A suspected exploit involving Wanchain’s Cardano bridge reportedly removed approximately 515 million NIGHT tokens from an address used to secure bridged assets, triggering heavy selling and a sharp decline in the Midnight ecosystem token.
The tokens were withdrawn on July 21, 2026, from Wanchain’s Cardano-side bridge lock address, according to public onchain analysis. That address held native NIGHT as collateral for Wanchain-wrapped NIGHT circulating on BNB Chain.
At a market price near $0.0175, the affected balance had a notional value of roughly $9 million. The value is approximate because NIGHT’s price fell rapidly during the incident, and there is not yet evidence that the entire 515 million-token balance was sold at a single price.
The Midnight Foundation acknowledged reports concerning the Wanchain Cardano-to-BNB bridge and said an investigation was underway. Its preliminary assessment indicated that the incident affected bridged NIGHT and was isolated from the Midnight network itself.
Neither Wanchain nor Midnight had published a complete forensic report at the time of writing. The precise attack method, the identity of the responsible party and the amount ultimately recoverable therefore remain unconfirmed.
Bridge Collateral Movement Triggers Market Sell-Off
Cross-chain bridges commonly work by locking a native asset on one blockchain and issuing an equivalent wrapped token on another. The wrapped asset retains its value only while the original collateral remains securely held and redeemable. Removing NIGHT from Wanchain’s Cardano lock address potentially leaves wrapped NIGHT on BNB Chain without complete backing. That does not necessarily mean every wrapped token is worthless, but it creates uncertainty over whether holders can redeem their assets at the expected one-to-one ratio. Large quantities of NIGHT were subsequently sold through Cardano-based decentralized exchanges, according to onchain observers. NIGHT fell by approximately one-third over 24 hours and traded as low as about $0.0152, while daily turnover climbed sharply as traders reacted to the apparent increase in available supply. The reported 515 million tokens represent roughly 3.1% of NIGHT’s circulating supply of approximately 16.6 billion tokens and about 2.15% of its stated 24 billion total supply. A balance of that scale can create substantial price pressure when moved into markets with comparatively limited liquidity.Midnight Network Says Core Protocol Was Not Compromised
The distinction between the bridge and the underlying Midnight protocol is important. Current evidence does not indicate that Midnight’s consensus mechanism, native token issuance rules or broader network infrastructure were breached. The suspected failure appears to involve external interoperability infrastructure operated by Wanchain. Wanchain describes WanBridge as a non-custodial system connecting EVM and non-EVM blockchains. Before the incident, the project had promoted an operating history of more than eight years without an exploit and highlighted substantial NIGHT transfers between Cardano and BNB Chain. The event nevertheless reinforces the security risks created when native assets are represented across multiple networks. Even where the original blockchain remains secure, weaknesses in bridge custody, validator controls or transaction verification can expose large collateral pools. The immediate priorities are identifying the vulnerability, tracing the withdrawn tokens and determining whether wrapped NIGHT remains fully redeemable. Any recovery plan may also require coordination with exchanges, decentralized trading venues and blockchain analytics firms. Until Wanchain provides a detailed accounting, the 515 million NIGHT figure should be treated as a reported bridge drain rather than a final confirmed loss.
