Tailo-Research

A single vulnerability in the shared Cosmos EVM module has now hit three separate chains within days of each other. KiiChain lost 148.3 million KII tokens to a bridge exploit, MANTRA halted for roughly 30 hours before recovering, and TAC remains halted after losing funds from one account — and on August 24, Cosmos Labs issued a coordinated security advisory asking every chain running the module to pause validators.

How It Unfolded

MANTRA, KiiChain, and TAC all run the same Cosmos EVM module, and the same vesting-account and balance-handling flaw turned out to be present in all three deployments. That shared code is exactly why one bug became three separate incidents instead of one isolated exploit.

• KiiChain’s bridge exploited 18 times: Attackers drained 148,326,583.15 KII tokens across 18 repeated attacks on August 22, routing the funds out through Hyperlane to BNB Smart Chain.
• MANTRA recovered, TAC didn’t: MANTRA halted for about 30 hours starting August 20 and resumed with no user funds lost. TAC lost one account to an EVM precompile-layer weakness and remains halted as of this writing.
• Cosmos Labs called a coordinated halt: On August 24, Cosmos Labs issued a security advisory asking every chain running the shared EVM module to halt validators until a full patch is confirmed.
• No confirmed resolution yet: There’s no aggregate loss figure or restart timeline across all three chains — this is still an active, unresolved incident as of August 25.

What This Means If You’re Trading Crypto

Shared infrastructure means shared risk. When multiple chains build on the same module — in this case, the Cosmos EVM implementation — a single bug can cascade across ecosystems that otherwise look unrelated to traders and investors.

• Bridge exploits remain one of the most common attack vectors in crypto — funds routed cross-chain, as KiiChain’s were through Hyperlane, are often gone before a halt can even be issued.
• A chain halting isn’t necessarily bad news on its own — MANTRA’s clean 30-hour recovery shows a well-handled halt can protect funds rather than lose them.
• Tokens on any chain still running an unpatched version of the shared module carry elevated risk until Cosmos Labs confirms the fix has been deployed everywhere.

Security incidents like this are a reminder that infrastructure risk sits underneath every price chart. If you’re trading the broader crypto market rather than holding any of these three tokens directly, Vantage Markets gives you exposure to major crypto pairs alongside forex, indices, and commodities — without needing to hold assets on any individual chain.

Related reading: Inside Crypto’s 8th-Largest Liquidation Event Ever and Solana’s Slot Time Just Dropped to 350ms.

Risk Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency and CFD trading carry a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please conduct your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any trading decisions.