Garden Finance paused its application following a security breach that led to hackers siphoning about $450,000 worth of USDT across several blockchains. Despite the setback, the company assures users that their funds and the core protocol remain untouched.
Details of the Security Breach
On July 27, Garden Finance shut down its app after discovering a hacker had compromised an off-chain database belonging to one of its independent solvers. This breach enabled the attacker to insert false transaction data, causing the solver to release funds for swaps without actual backing transactions on the other side.
The incident affected assets on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain, with the stolen sum totaling around $450,000 in USDT. Importantly, the stolen assets were tied to the compromised solver’s holdings rather than user funds.
Garden emphasized that its HTLC smart contracts, used to secure atomic swaps across different networks, remained secure and were not part of the breach. The firm is currently isolating and reviewing the affected infrastructure as it works toward restoring services, though no specific timeline has been given.
Response and Ongoing Actions
The company has engaged cybersecurity experts from zeroShadow, Quantstamp, and Blockaid to help trace and recover the stolen funds. Blockaid was the first to alert the community publicly about the exploit, providing information on wallet addresses linked to the attacker.
This event marks the second time in less than a year that Garden has faced a solver-related incident. Back in October 2025, a similar attack led to losses totaling approximately $11.4 million, but again the core protocol and user assets were unaffected. These repeated failures highlight vulnerabilities in the off-chain solver infrastructure rather than the fundamental design of the protocol.
Garden Finance highlights its recent SOC 2 Type II certification as a measure of its ongoing security investments. The priority remains securing all compromised systems and ensuring a safe return to normal operations. The precise amount recovered so far remains undisclosed.
