AFX Trade reports $24M custody-bridge exploit and offers return bounty

What happened

AFX Trade, an Arbitrum perpetuals DEX, reportedly suffered a $24M exploit involving a custody bridge it operates. The available record distinguishes the affected bridge from the Arbitrum network itself, so the report does not describe an exploit of Arbitrum.

The stolen funds were reportedly moved to Ethereum soon after the attack. AFX Trade then offered the hacker a 30% bounty to return the balance. The record does not say whether funds were returned or whether the offer was accepted.

Why it matters

The incident puts attention on custody and bridge layers around DeFi venues, where assets can be pooled or transferred between networks. A related report in the same research record describes a separate $7.5M Verus-Ethereum bridge drain through a repeated flaw class, reinforcing the need to watch bridge and custody exposure.

For users and observers of venues that rely on bridged assets or pooled custody, the practical question is not only the protocol’s trading activity but also how those supporting layers are secured and what happens when they fail. This is an operational risk signal, not a conclusion about all Arbitrum applications or bridges.

What to watch next

The next useful receipt would be a direct technical account of the exploit, including the affected custody-bridge mechanism, the status of the funds, and any remediation or recovery update from AFX Trade. Independent confirmation would also help establish the reported loss and sequence of events.