"No user funds were affected, but we take this situation very seriously," a representative from Garden Finance stated after the platform halted operations following a security breach. The incident targeted a solver's off-chain database, allowing an attacker to manipulate transaction records and illicitly withdraw around $450,000 in USDT. This intrusion affected several chains, including Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain.
Garden Finance confirmed that its core protocol and hash time-locked contracts stayed secure throughout the event. These HTLCs are vital for enabling trustless atomic swaps across blockchains like Bitcoin. Importantly, the funds lost belonged solely to the compromised solver's own wallet, with customer deposits remaining untouched. Despite the breach, the platform reassured users that their assets were never in danger.
In response, Garden Finance has taken its cross-chain bridge offline to conduct a full security review. The company has brought in three specialized firms zeroShadow, Quantstamp, and Blockaid to assist with the investigation and recovery efforts. The firm emphasized it will only resume services after all security measures are thoroughly validated, referencing its SOC 2 Type II certification as a security benchmark.
This marks the second major solver-related hack for Garden Finance within a year. Back in October 2025, a similar breach resulted in losses of approximately $11.4 million due to a solver compromise. The repeated issues highlight vulnerabilities in third-party solver integrations which remain a concern in DeFi's cross-chain operations. Market watchers remain cautious as protocols continue to face challenges securing off-chain components even while on-chain contracts are solid.
