Charles Hoskinson broke his silence on the security breach that sent the NIGHT token into freefall, making clear that neither the Midnight protocol nor NIGHT's smart contract on Cardano was compromised. The culprit, he said, was the Wanchain bridge infrastructure.
"Midnight itself wasn't hacked. NIGHT's smart contract on Cardano wasn't hacked. What was hacked was the third-party bridge," Hoskinson said in his statement.
What the investigation found so far
Early findings point squarely at Wanchain. The bridge system runs across four core components, both on-chain and off-chain, spread between Cardano and BNB Chain. Hoskinson said it's still unclear which specific component was hit and exactly how the attacker got in. A full audit is needed before those questions can be answered. He added that the Wanchain team owes a detailed explanation, and that the total loss figure and how damages will be remedied remain open items.
As per Hoskinson's remarks, the NIGHT token has started recovering after the initial crash, and he described the incident as Midnight's "first major test," one the project has now passed.
Hoskinson, who has spent 15 years in crypto, also raised a broader concern: AI is accelerating the pace at which attackers can find vulnerabilities, and the industry is growing dangerously numb to bridge exploits. He argued that next-generation financial infrastructure is overdue, pointing to NIGHT's stated goal of combining traditional finance tools like insurance and asset recovery with crypto-native features such as self-custody and self-sovereign identity.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or an investment recommendation.
