How much was lost in the Adshares hack?

The Adshares hack resulted in $628K in losses on May 16, 2026.

What attack technique was used in the Adshares exploit?

The Adshares exploit utilized Forged Proof. Understanding this attack vector is critical for smart contract auditors and developers building secure DeFi protocols.

How can developers prevent similar smart contract attacks?

Preventing smart contract hacks requires a combination of secure coding practices, thorough security audits, and understanding common attack vectors like reentrancy, oracle manipulation, and access control flaws. Smart Contract Hacking (SCH) provides hands-on training to help developers and auditors identify and prevent vulnerabilities before deployment.

Adshares Hack

TOTAL LOST $628K

Low May 16, 2026 Forged Proof ethereum

Affected Chain ethereum Incident surface

Recovered - No recovery reported

All-Time Rank #1141 By amount stolen

Year 2026 Incident year

Incident Report

Protocol / Project Adshares

Date of Incident May 16, 2026

Affected Chain(s) ethereum

Attack Technique Forged Proof

Classification Bridge & Cross-Chain

Market Context at Time of Hack

Token Price at Hack $0.4804

Market Cap at Hack $18.6M

% of Market Cap Stolen 3.37%

What the Attacker Needed to Succeed

Understanding the prerequisites for this type of attack helps auditors identify protocols that are most at risk and helps developers build better defenses.

Technical Knowledge Deep understanding of forged proof and Solidity and EVM internals

Capital Required Seed capital to cover gas and initial position setup

On-Chain Access Ability to interact with ethereum smart contracts and deploy a custom exploit contract

Protocol Analysis Identification of the exploitable vulnerability in Adshares's contract logic - root cause: bridge & cross-chain

Execution Speed Precise transaction ordering and timing to exploit the vulnerability within a single atomic block

Obfuscation Plan A strategy to launder and move stolen funds - typically through mixers, cross-chain bridges, or decentralized DEX swaps to resist tracing

What Auditors Should Check

Could this have been caught in audit? Likely, with a thorough Forged Proof audit checklist and test coverage

If you're auditing a protocol with similar architecture to Adshares, these are the critical security checks that could have prevented this incident (May 2026).

Verify all logic paths related to Forged Proof are guarded by proper access controls and input validation
Review privileged functions (owner, admin, governance) for potential abuse vectors - centralization risks should be documented and bounded with timelocks or multi-sigs

Master these auditing techniques with hands-on labs and real exploit scenarios in the Smart Contract Hacking course.

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Threat Assessment

Severity Level

LOW

Attack Vector Forged Proof
Root Cause Bridge & Cross-Chain
Year 2026

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Incident Report

Market Context at Time of Hack

What the Attacker Needed to Succeed

What Auditors Should Check

Related Hacks - Forged Proof

Learn to Prevent the Next Adshares