Hackers Continue Moving Stolen Assets
On September 4th, hackers infiltrated cryptocurrency casino Stake, absconding with $41 million. Blockchain security firm CertiK has been following the movements of the stolen assets, recently reporting another transfer conducted by the criminals: $328,000 worth of Polygon and BNB tokens.
Trail of Transfers
The latest transfer saw 300 BNB tokens — roughly valued at $61,500 — being sent to an externally owned address. These were later bridged to the Avalanche blockchain on September 11th. Additionally, the hackers moved 520,000 MATIC tokens, over $266,000 in value, to Avalanche earlier that day.
This sum adds to the $4.5 million already transferred to the Bitcoin blockchain on September 7th, bringing the total moved funds to $4.8 million, a mere 1.2% of the total amount stolen from Stake.
Investigations Underway
The criminals executed the heist by gaining access to the private keys of Stake’s Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum hot wallets. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) suspects the Lazarus Group, backed by North Korea, to be the mastermind behind this major exploit.
Cryptocurrency Industry Grapples with Increasing Hacks
A Billion-Dollar Milestone
The Stake heist is part of a larger problem plaguing the cryptocurrency industry. Recent incidents have escalated the total funds lost in crypto scams and hacks to over $1 billion this year, according to CertiK. This is a substantial increase from the $997 million reported at the end of August.
Recent High-Profile Incidents
This month alone witnessed a cryptocurrency whale losing $24 million in staked Ether due to a phishing attack, and a hacker compromising Vitalik Buterin’s X account to conduct a non-fungible token scam amounting to $691,000. Other incidents include the $13.2 million Pepe coin withdrawal and the $7.3 million Exactly Protocol exploit, among others.
Conclusion
As the Stake casino hack unfolds, the industry remains on high alert, with stakeholders eagerly awaiting updates on the recovery of the stolen funds and the apprehension of the perpetrators. The recent movements, although a small fraction of the total stolen assets, indicate that the hackers are actively trying to launder the stolen assets, signaling the urgency for enhanced security measures in the cryptocurrency space.
