A security incident led to the loss of about $4.7 million worth of assets on the Axelar cross-chain interoperability protocol, which has since shut down its bridge functionality with the Secret Network. The hacker exploited assets being moved from the Axelar network to the Secret network via the Cosmos IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication) protocol, according to Axelar. Initial findings indicate that the vulnerability was not in Axelar’s core infrastructure, but instead in the Secret-side ICS-20 smart contract that is managing IBC transfers between the two networks.