Jan 20 2022

Crypto.com: Fortune Favors the Hacker—$16M ‘Stolen’

Category: Crypto,HackingDISC @ 10:18 pm

DeFi: A Planet-Burning Ponzi Scheme

What’s the craic, you ask? Andrew Asmakov answers—“Crypto.com Suffers Hack for At Least $15M”:

“Definitely worse”
The platform has yet to confirm that it has indeed been attacked [but] Crypto.com announced it was pausing withdrawals after “a small number of users experienced unauthorized activity in their accounts.” … A household name in Asian markets, the Singapore-based exchange recently spent $700 million to buy the naming rights to the Staples Center—the Los Angeles home venue of the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers.

Events took a turn for the worse when security research company Peckshield [said] Crypto.com has lost at least 4,600 ETH (around $15 million in current prices) [and] that the true scale of the damage is “definitely worse.” … Peckshield added that half of the stolen funds were sent to Tornado Cash, the Ethereum-centric mixing service.

Remarkably, a few hours later, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said that no customer funds were lost.

A small number of users? Such as? Emily Nicolle notes one of them—“Crypto.com Suspends Withdrawals”:

“$16.3 million”
Several users had reported on social media that their cryptocurrencies, at times equating to tens of thousands of dollars, had disappeared from their Crypto.com accounts in recent days. … Technical issues on crypto trading platforms have become commonplace as the hype surrounding digital assets grows.

Crypto influencer and podcast host Ben Baller said in a tweet on Monday that around 4.28 Ether, which equates to roughly $14,000, had been “stolen out of nowhere” [despite] two-factor authentication security measures. … Baller later alleged … a wallet belonging to Crypto.com had lost approximately 5,000 Ether, which equates to roughly $16.3 million.

A spokesperson from Crypto.com didn’t respond to a request for comment.

And Andy Greenberg adds color and context—“North Korean Hackers Stole Nearly $400 Million in Crypto Last Year”:

Crypto.com: Fortune Favors the Hacker

Crypto Wars: Faked Deaths, Missing Billions and Industry Disruption

Tags: Crypto.com