The decentralized perpetual exchange GMX has been hacked for $42 million in what looks like a complex cross-chain exploit. This is a big security breach that is shaking up the DeFi space. The attack on GMX’s liquidity pools used token bridges across several blockchains to steal millions of dollars in a coordinated attack that happened in just a few minutes.
On July 9, security experts and on-chain trackers first noticed strange activity, with sudden withdrawals from GMX’s vaults on Arbitrum and Avalanche. The hacker got around security measures and stole money without setting off immediate alerts by using a mix of flash loans, bridge vulnerabilities, and synthetic asset manipulation.
Community Reacts as Protocol Pauses Operations
GMX paused a number of its smart contracts shortly after the exploit to stop more losses and protect the funds that were still there. The official GMX X account confirmed the breach and told users that an internal investigation was going on in partnership with some of the best blockchain security companies.
Even though GMX acted quickly, the hack hurt their reputation a lot. In 2025, the protocol, which was once thought to be one of the safest in the decentralized derivatives space, became one of the many high-profile DeFi exploits.
People in the GMX community are worried and angry, especially since DeFi markets are still having trouble with cross-chain infrastructure that is often vulnerable. Some users have asked for full audits, bigger bug bounties, and better tools to keep an eye on things so that these kinds of things don’t happen again.
A Harsh Reminder of the Risks of DeFi
Cross-chain protocols are increasingly popular, but they’re also among the most dangerous aspects of decentralized finance. Bridges don’t always have the same security layers, which makes them easy targets for hackers who take advantage of differences between ecosystems.
This incident is just one more in a long line of 2025 DeFi breaches. It shows that coming up with new ideas without strong security can be costly. As GMX tries to get back stolen assets and rebuild user trust, the rest of the DeFi world is reminded once more that decentralization is not enough to protect against theft.
Also read: Sequans Raises 384 Million Dollars to Build Bitcoin Treasury
