Axelar Suspends Secret Network Links After $4.67M IBC-Related Exploit

Axelar has suspended its connection to Secret Network following a security incident tied to IBC routing that led to the theft of about $4.67 million in bridged assets, CoinDesk reported. In a June 19 update, Axelar said it detected anomalies involving assets moved from the Axelar chain to Secret Network via IBC. Its emergency committee disabled the connections to Secret and SecretSNIP. Axelar's preliminary assessment points to Secret's ICS20 smart contract used in the Cosmos IBC link between Axelar and Secret. Axelar said its core protocol was not impacted, and current indications suggest the issue is limited to the affected IBC routes carrying transfers from Axelar to Secret. Other IBC connections appear unaffected, and the team has not observed anomalies with other Secret Network tokens. Axelar said it has reached out to relevant exchanges and law enforcement and will continue its investigation. A more detailed post-incident report is being prepared. As of publication, neither Axelar nor Secret Network has released full technical details on how the vulnerability was exploited; available information currently points to a Secret-side contract issue rather than a broader crosschain network failure.