Preliminary Postmortem: Syscoin Bridge Incident
We want to provide the community with a preliminary update regarding the recent Syscoin bridge incident involving approximately 5B SYS.
The Syscoin bridge is currently paused while the team investigates, finalizes the fix, and works on rectifying the unauthorized SYS output created through the affected bridge path.
Summary
An attacker exploited a validation issue in the bridge flow that resulted in an unauthorized SYS output being created on the UTXO side.
The affected funds were moved and split after reaching the UTXO chain. We are actively tracing those funds and coordinating with exchanges and ecosystem partners to prevent the tainted outputs from being deposited, traded, or further distributed.
What happened
Based on our current investigation, the incident involved the bridge relay path incorrectly accepting or interpreting a transaction proof.
This caused the bridge system to treat the transaction as valid and create an unauthorized SYS output of approximately 5B SYS through the UTXO bridge path.
The funds were first sent to:
sys1qgaelv690g7wwp2xchfdh0enf5uewzq5sm9wvcw
They were then spent and split into additional outputs. The current large tainted balances appear to be associated with:
sys1q2k482wnachkgky4lw60973p4vcf7xlh9kzpv33 — approximately 4B SYS
sys1qx6jjkq89sdaxftfgre3m0nv7vjfd4jeakg5t38 — approximately 1B SYS
Relevant transactions
Initial UTXO transaction:
explorer-blockbook.syscoin.o…
Subsequent spend:
explorer-blockbook.syscoin.o…
Split transaction:
explorer-blockbook.syscoin.o…
Actions taken
- The bridge has been paused.
- We have contacted exchanges and relevant partners and asked them to blacklist, freeze, or closely monitor any SYS deposits connected to the tainted UTXO trail and all descendant spends.
- We are continuing to trace the affected funds and coordinate with infrastructure providers and ecosystem partners.
Remediation
The team has identified the affected validation path and has a fix in place.
Our priority now is to complete implementation and review of the fix, while also determining the correct process to rectify the unauthorized SYS output and neutralize its impact on the network.
We will provide further updates once the remediation path has been finalized.
User Guidance
Users should not interact with the bridge while it remains paused.
We understand the seriousness of this incident and are treating it as the highest priority. We will continue to share updates as the investigation and remediation progress.