Wanchain Bridge Hack Drains 515M NIGHT, Tokens Sink 32% to $0.015 Low

A cross-chain bridge exploit on July 21, 2026 drained approximately 515 million NIGHT tokens, worth roughly $13 million, from a contract securing the Wanchain-operated link between Cardano and BNB Chain. The token cratered more than 30% within hours, touching a record low near $0.015-$0.016.

Wanchain has taken the bridge offline and opened an investigation. The Midnight Foundation, whose NIGHT token was targeted, confirmed the breach but said the underlying Midnight network itself was not compromised, with the incident isolated strictly to the bridge’s custody mechanism.

How the exploit unfolded

According to on-chain monitors and the Midnight Foundation, attackers compromised a two-year-old smart contract holding 515 million NIGHT that backed wrapped NIGHT circulating on BNB Chain. Every token in that custody pool was drained in a single sweep.

The stolen tokens were moved through a series of freshly created wallets before being dumped on Cardano-based decentralized exchanges. Chain data shows the attacker has already sold roughly 290 million NIGHT of the 515 million taken, with the remaining balance likely to hit the market in further tranches, adding continued sell pressure on the token.

Because the custody contract on BNB Chain is now empty, wrapped NIGHT tokens on that network are effectively unbacked even though their circulating supply has not changed. That mismatch between a fixed wrapped-token supply and a zeroed-out reserve is the direct mechanical cause of the price collapse.

NIGHT price action: a 32% air pocket

NIGHT’s price fell over 30% from pre-hack levels, with one tracker putting the drop at 32% as the token tested whether the $0.015 level would hold as support. The move marks a fresh record low for the asset since its launch, reflecting both the direct loss of backing collateral and panic selling by holders reacting to the exploit headlines.

For holders of wrapped NIGHT on BNB Chain specifically, the exploit raises an immediate solvency question: with the backing reserve emptied, any redemption mechanism tied to that pool is now unfunded unless Wanchain or the Midnight Foundation intervenes with a recovery plan or reimbursement.

Part of a bigger bridge-hacking pattern in 2026

The Wanchain incident lands in a month that has already seen more than $59 million stolen across various crypto exploits, pushing cumulative hack losses for 2026 past the $1 billion mark. Cross-chain bridges — long a favored target because they concentrate large pools of locked assets in a single contract — have been disproportionately represented among this year’s biggest breaches.

For traders and builders, the takeaway is a familiar one: wrapped-asset custody contracts, however old and battle-tested, remain a structural weak point. Until Wanchain completes its investigation and either restores the bridge or clarifies a remediation path, wrapped NIGHT on BNB Chain should be treated as impaired, and further NIGHT sell pressure from the attacker’s remaining holdings is a real near-term risk.

Sources

• coingape.com
• ambcrypto.com