Layer 1 network ZetaChain has paused cross-chain transactions on the mainnet after the team identified an attack on its GatewayEVM contract.
A GatewayEVM contract is a smart contract that serves as a unified entry point for cross-chain interactions between external EVM-compatible chains and applications on ZetaChain.
The incident impacted only internal ZetaChain team wallets, and the team has mitigated the attack vector to prevent more funds from being compromised. DefiLlama data shows that $300,000 was lost in the attack, though the team did not disclose the amount and said it will release a detailed post-mortem.
"As a precaution, cross-chain transactions are currently paused on ZetaChain," the team said. "Investigation is still ongoing, and at this time no user funds were impacted by this attack."
According to its official status page, ZetaChain's cross-chain transactions remained paused as of 9:00 p.m. ET on Monday, nine hours after identifying the attack.
The Block has reached out to ZetaChain for further information.
ZetaChain is an interoperability-focused Layer 1 network that was designed as the "first universal blockchain" that integrates different networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon. Its mainnet went live in early 2024.
The attack on ZetaChain follows the exploit of the LayerZero-powered cross-chain bridge Kelp DAO, which has drained $292 million from the protocol. This incident has led to substantial bad debt on Aave, prompting an industry-wide coalition named "DeFi United" to rescue the decentralized liquidity protocol.
Since the Kelp DAO exploit, there have been at least 10 attacks on various DeFi projects, according to DefiLlama data.