Echo Protocol, the popular Bitcoin liquidity aggregation and yield infrastructure layer, has suffered an exploit that cost the protocol $76 million. The exploit happened just as Echo Protocol was deployed on the Monad blockchain due to a compromised admin key.
Using the admin key, the attacker minted 1,000 unauthorized worth $77 million. The team quickly regained control of the compromised admin key. As of the time of this writing, the attacker has already laundered around $816,000 through coin mixer Tornado Cash.
Echo Protocol Suffers $76M Exploit
On May 19, 2026, blockchain security firm PeckShield and on-chain sleuths spotted a gigantic anomaly in the deployment of Echo Protocol in the Monad ecosystem. An attacker managed to break the private key of an administrator, which allowed him to mint coins without permission in the protocol.
With this administrative power, the hacker created 1,000 eBTC tokens worth about $76.7 million, the wrapped version of Bitcoin on Monad. The attacker then deposited 45 eBTC (valued at $3.45 million) in the lending platform Curvance.
The 45 eBTC was used as collateral for borrowing 11.29 Wrapped Bitcoin () valued at approximately $867,700. The WBTC was immediately invested on the Ethereum network, exchanged with native ether () and laundered.
According to on-chain data, the attacker sent around 384 ETH ($816,000) through the Tornado Cash privacy mixer to cover up the paper trail. Echo Protocol responded quickly to the exploit. The development team successfully regained control of the admin keys.
The team burned the remaining 955 eBTC worth over $75 million that were left in the attacker’s wallet. They said that the security breach was simply an operational key compromise, meaning that the underlying blockchain network Monad was not compromised in any way.
Since then, Echo Protocol has suspended all its cross-chain capabilities on Monad and temporarily disabled its Aptos bridge as a precautionary measure, and has also enhanced the security of its deployments of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) bridges.
Bitcoin Stalls At $76K as Bulls Target $90K
The Bitcoin price has responded very mildly to the report of the Echo Protocol attack. The BTC price chart shows a consolidation in terms of value on the daily price chart.
The Bitcoin price has ranged between $76,000 and $77,000 since its drop from the $80,000 support level last week. While the weekly price chart shows a bearish pattern, looking at the BTC price chart from February to date shows a bullish picture.
As highlighted by the analyst, Man of Bitcoin on X, with the BTC price retesting the W pattern, bulls could spark a possible move toward $90,000+. On this possible rally, BTC faces major resistance levels at around $80,000 and $85,000.
Also, for this pattern to remain viable, BTC bulls must defend the support around the $75,811 area. What this means is that the BTC price currently sits at a key decision point. If bulls generate the momentum needed, BTC could return to recent highs. If bears continue to overrun the market, we could see a drop to the Bitcoin monthly low.