{"id":24632,"date":"2026-08-24T04:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T04:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nft.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/24\/the-sandbox-halts-base-and-bnb-chain-bridges-after-sand-exploit\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T04:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T04:52:09","slug":"the-sandbox-halts-base-and-bnb-chain-bridges-after-sand-exploit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nft.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/24\/the-sandbox-halts-base-and-bnb-chain-bridges-after-sand-exploit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sandbox Halts Base and BNB Chain Bridges After SAND Exploit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Sandbox <\/b>has paused its SAND bridge on <\/span>Base<\/b> and <\/span>BNB Smart Chain (BSC) <\/b>after detecting a vulnerability that allowed an attacker to mint unbacked tokens on both networks. According to an <\/span>X post<\/span><\/a> by The Sandbox, the project confirmed the incident on August 22, 2026, and reports it is contained; bridging to and from Base and BSC is currently disabled to isolate the affected SAND supply.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sandbox Contains SAND Bridge Exploit<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Sandbox said its team identified and addressed a vulnerability in the SAND <\/span>cross-chain bridge<\/b> on Base and BNB Smart Chain. According to the project\u2019s official announcement, the impact of the incident is \u201c<\/span>minimal<\/span><\/i>,\u201d representing less than 0.01% of the total SAND supply.<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue occurred at the bridge layer, where tokens are typically locked on the native chain before an equivalent amount of tokens is minted on the destination chain. When this mechanism is exploited, an attacker can generate wrapped tokens without corresponding backing assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sandbox expanded SAND to BNB Smart Chain and Base in 2024 via <\/span>LayerZero<\/b> to enable token movement across multiple networks rather than concentrating solely on Ethereum and Polygon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the discovery of the incident, The Sandbox disabled the SAND bridge to and from Base and BSC, leaving tokens on both networks isolated during the investigation. The project has not yet provided a timeline for reopening the bridge and stated it will release a technical post-mortem later.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unbacked SAND Minted on Base and BSC<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to The Sandbox, the attacker was able to mint unbacked SAND on Base and BSC. These tokens were created on the affected chains without being backed by locked SAND on Ethereum.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to PeckShield, approximately <\/span>14.9 billion SAND<\/b> was abnormally minted across two addresses during the incident. At a SAND price of around $0.045 at the time, this token quantity held a massive nominal value, but should not be viewed as actual financial loss since the bridge was disabled and liquidity on the affected networks was constrained.<\/span><\/p>\n

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#PeckShieldAlert<\/a> Seems like The @TheSandboxGame<\/a> ($SAND<\/a>) got exploited. 14.9B $SAND<\/a> minted across 2 addresses: 0xAbE0\u20264D22 & 0x638C\u2026F296 pic.twitter.com\/a5Jgym87gR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) August 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Sandbox warned users not to buy, sell, or trade SAND on Base and BSC, as liquidity on both networks has been compromised. With the bridge currently disabled, SAND on these two chains remains isolated and cannot be redeemed through the official bridge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethereum and Polygon SAND Remain Unaffected<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Sandbox affirmed that SAND on Ethereum and Polygon remains unaffected by the incident. The project also noted that no user wallets were compromised, and holders on these two networks do not need to take urgent action.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to The Sandbox, the SAND locked on Ethereum backing the bridged tokens remains fully intact. This indicates that the incident was localized to the bridge on Base and BSC rather than the underlying token contract or user wallets.<\/span><\/p>\n

CoinGecko data at the time of reporting showed SAND trading around $0.0464, up approximately 16.9% over 7 days but down slightly by 0.7% over 24 hours. The token had a market capitalization of around $136.3 million, a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $4.16 million, a circulating supply of about 2.938 billion SAND, and a total supply of 3 billion SAND.<\/span><\/p>\n