In 2026, just as the industry was getting started, the crypto space experienced a massive security incident—hundreds of wallets across EVM-compatible chains were hacked and drained by attackers, with losses reaching an unprecedented scale. This was not a small-scale theft but an organized, large-scale attack.

Why is this event so serious? The EVM virtual machine is the core protocol of the Ethereum ecosystem, and major public chains like Polygon and Binance Chain all adopt this standard. Once a problem occurs, the impact is not limited to a single chain’s users but spans multiple ecosystems—ETH holders, MATIC users, BNB ecosystem participants—all need to stay alert.

Market reactions show that such incidents tend to trigger chain reactions. DeFi-related tokens (like UNI, LINK) may face short-term pressure, and investors’ risk appetite will inevitably decline. But on the flip side, if the industry can leverage this event to upgrade security infrastructure, it could serve as a long-term turning point.

The specific attack methods are still unclear. It could be a vulnerability in cross-chain bridges or a backdoor in a smart contract. Another harsh reality is that if stolen funds end up in mixers, the chances of recovery are virtually zero. This underscores the importance of security measures—preventive security is far more critical than post-incident tracking.

Will this incident accelerate the deployment of Layer 2 security solutions? Or is it just a signal indicating that the race to discover and exploit vulnerabilities has only just begun? It’s worth pondering.