MAP Protocol plunges 96% after quadrillion-token MAPO exploit – Details
A quadrillion‑token mint exploit prompted MAP Protocol [MAPO] to plunge 96%, dropping from $0.003 to $0.0001. An all-time low worth for the altcoin mirrored panicked market sentiment following an inflationary assault of unprecedented scale in latest hours.
The attacker had tricked Butter Bridge, the cross-chain bridge constructed on the MAP Protocol, into minting 1 quadrillion MAPO tokens. This was almost 5 million instances the 208 million provide. The minted tokens had been despatched to a brand new externally owned account (EOA).
In an hour, MAP Protocol introduced in a publish on X that the workforce was “conscious and coordinating with exterior safety companions on investigation and containment.” The announcement additionally detailed that the bridge between mainnet MAPO and MAPO ERC-20 was paused.
Butter Bridge additionally reiterated the message and confused that person funds weren’t in danger. Pending swaps had been held, the publish assured.
How did the exploit happen?
The assault was greater than a compromised non-public pockets; it originated from the Solidity contract layer. Based on blockchain safety agency Blockaid, the attacker first submitted a respectable oracle multisig‑signed message.
They then deployed a malicious contract to a focused tackle and resent a manipulated retry message. As a result of the message produced the identical hash construction, it appeared legitimate and enabled the exploit.
The bridge was thus tricked into the huge token mint.
Staff will announce a brand new contract tackle
The attacker used the EOA to dump almost a billion MAPO tokens onto Uniswap liquidity swimming pools, draining almost 52 ETH value $180k, Blockaid reported. The attacker additionally controls near a trillion tokens.
This meant the MAP Protocol needed to pause mainnet operations and begin a migration course of to a brand new contract tackle that might be introduced quickly.
It was reported that the newest exploit is available in a month when at the least 18 DeFi and blockchain protocols had been compromised, together with THORChain [RUNE] and RetoSwap.
Subsequently, cross-chain infrastructure stays the Achilles’ heel of DeFi, even in 2026.
Ultimate Abstract
- MAP Protocol confronted an assault through which Butter Bridge was tricked into minting a quadrillion MAPO tokens, and a billion tokens had been dumped.
- The assault pressured the MAP Protocol to pause mainnet operations and begin migration. It additionally uncovered the fragility of cross-chain infrastructure.
