Cronos Network Paused After Tectonic Exploit Involving Roughly $75 Million

Crypto.com’s Cronos blockchain was temporarily halted after a security breach targeting the decentralized lending protocol Tectonic. The incident is estimated to involve about $75 million, the majority of which is still locked on the Cronos network.

Exploit Details

Researchers identified that the attacker leveraged Tectonic’s 20% collateral factor and limited liquidity to execute a rapid price manipulation of the governance token TONIC. Within roughly 20 minutes, the token’s price surged 100‑fold, allowing the attacker to borrow additional assets in a “pump‑and‑borrow” style attack.

Estimated Losses

• Initial estimate: $66 million affected.
• Approximately $6 million was bridged to Ethereum before the network pause.
• Additional attacker‑controlled address later identified with about $8 million, raising the total estimate to roughly $75 million.

Impact on Crypto.com Services

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek confirmed that the company’s app and exchange remain operational and that user funds on those platforms are safe.

Next Steps

Both Cronos and Tectonic have warned users to avoid interacting with the protocol while investigations continue. No timeline for restarting the network or details on potential asset recovery have been announced.