Event Overview: IN Token Sudden Volatility
On July 1, INFINIT, a cross-chain infrastructure project, issued an official response to recent abnormal price fluctuations of its IN token. The project confirmed that neither the platform nor the token contract was compromised, and all user funds remain secure. The price anomaly was traced to irregular operations by an independent wallet, classified as a market integrity issue rather than a platform security vulnerability.
Technical Analysis: Cross-Chain Burn-and-Mint Arbitrage Path
INFINIT's investigation revealed that the wallet in question withdrew tokens from centralized exchanges Bitget and Gate, transferred them to a cross-chain address, and then used the LayerZero protocol to bridge IN tokens from Ethereum mainnet to BNB Chain. The specific operation: approximately 9 million IN tokens were burned on the Ethereum side, and an equivalent amount was minted on BNB Chain three minutes later. The wallet then executed multiple sell orders on Pancakeswap, causing a sharp price decline.
This cross-chain burn-and-mint mechanism is designed to maintain token supply balance across chains, but malicious actors exploited the time delay between bridging and on-chain trading to dump tokens on BNB Chain, triggering panic selling.
Market Impact: 43.6% Drop in 24 Hours
According to Coingecko, the IN token price fell from around $0.118 to $0.06669 within 24 hours, a 43.6% decline. Trading volume surged significantly, with severe slippage in certain liquidity pools. As of press time, IN is trading at $0.06669 with a market cap of approximately $6.67 million (based on 100 million circulating supply).
Project Response: Cooperation with Exchanges for Accountability
INFINIT emphasized that this incident is unrelated to platform security; the token contract was not tampered with, and users need not panic. The team is cooperating with centralized exchanges Bitget and Gate to trace the wallet identity and pursue legal action. The project also urged the community to remain calm and be cautious of short-term price manipulation.
Similar cross-chain arbitrage/dump events are not uncommon in crypto markets. Several small-cap projects have previously experienced rapid token bridging and dumping via cross-chain bridges. This incident once again highlights the potential risks of concentrated liquidity in cross-chain bridge mechanisms.