402bridge Hacked: $17,000 Stolen from 227 Wallets in 28 Minutes

Citing Protos, 402bridge, a cross-layer protocol built on the AI agent payments system x402, has been hacked, resulting in the theft of $17,000 in USDC from over 200 victims. According to crypto analyst PeckShield, the breach occurred after the private keys were leaked, allowing attackers to transfer ownership of the contract and drain funds from users who had approved the contract. In just 28 minutes, 227 wallets were affected. 402bridge confirmed that the private key leak also compromised more than a dozen of the team’s test and main wallets. The incident has been reported to law enforcement, and the team is investigating. Pseudonymous X user 'Ye in Web3' raised concerns that the attack may be a coordinated rug pull, citing suspicious features in the contract. SlowMist founder Yu Xian noted that internal sabotage cannot be ruled out, though he emphasized this is not a typical rugpull. This is the first publicly known theft case related to the 402 protocol services.