Verus-Ethereum Bridge Drained $7.54M in Second Hack as ETH ETFs Log $105M Weekly Inflow
Blockaid flags a fresh Verus-Ethereum Bridge exploit as ETH holds $1,900 support and spot ETFs post a third straight day of inflows.
Blockchain security firm Blockaid identified a second exploit against the Verus-Ethereum Bridge on July 23, with an attacker abusing the bridge’s import path to trigger unbacked payouts and drain roughly $7.54 million in ETH, tBTC, USDC, USDT, EURC, MKR and scrvUSD. The stolen assets were converted into ETH after the attack, according to Blockaid’s on-chain tracing.
The hit is the second against the same contract and vulnerability class in two months. An $11.5 million exploit in May targeted the identical bridge mechanism, and while most of those funds were later returned under a white-hat arrangement, the repeat incident renews scrutiny of cross-chain infrastructure security heading into the second half of 2026.
ETH Volume Drops but $1,900 Support Holds
Ethereum was trading at $1,921.68 following the disclosure, with 24-hour volume down more than 20% as traders pulled back after the bridge news. Despite the thinner activity, ETH has not closed below $1,900 since early July, preserving the pattern of higher highs and higher lows built over the month.
On the technical side, the Stochastic Oscillator has cooled to the 32-33 range, retreating from overbought conditions without a break in the broader uptrend structure — a setup traders typically read as consolidation rather than distribution.
ETF Flows Diverge from Retail Caution
Spot Ethereum ETFs pulled in roughly $37.5 million in the most recent session, marking a third consecutive day of positive flows on total trading volume of about $645 million. Cumulative holdings across the funds now sit near $10.48 billion, with weekly net inflows of approximately $105 million.
That divergence — institutional accumulation against a backdrop of a fresh DeFi exploit and falling spot volume — is the clearest signal in the current data: large allocators appear unmoved by the bridge-level risk that is keeping smaller traders on the sidelines.
Regulated Access and Staking Rewards Expand
Swiss cantonal bank BancaStato has launched regulated Ethereum trading directly through its existing banking platform, built on infrastructure from Sygnum and Avaloq, giving traditional retail banking clients direct exposure to ETH through a regulated channel.
Separately, Grayscale plans to begin distributing Ethereum staking rewards as quarterly cash payments through its Ethereum Trust starting around August 7, a structural change that would give trust holders a yield component alongside price exposure for the first time.
Taken together, the week’s data shows a market splitting along two tracks: on-chain infrastructure risk resurfacing through repeated bridge exploits, and institutional capital continuing to build ETH exposure through ETFs, bank rails and staking products regardless of that risk.
Read more: Ethereum Deploys Surge 192% as Funding Rates Spike 220% Into $1,945 Test