Possible Inside Job Suspected in $112.5M Ripple Hack, Investigation Ongoing
Summary:
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's personal crypto wallets, holding $112.5 million worth of XRP, may have been compromised due to an inside job, according to a report from blockchain analytics platform Hacken. The stolen funds were allegedly split into eight different accounts, with links suggesting potential long-standing ties with XRP. The investigation into the alleged inside job is still ongoing.
A Ripple executive's personal crypto wallets might have been vulnerable due to an inside attack. Blockchain analytics firm Hacken's report on February 7 suggested that the same hacker who breached the personal wallets of Ripple’s co-founder and chairman Chris Larsen on January 31, seizing XRP worth $112.5 million, might have connections to a wallet which Ripple may have had control over. While Hacken didn't accuse any Ripple employee of conducting the attack, it indicated that it was too premature to draw conclusions. Still, it highlighted the role of two wallets linked to authorized XRP wallets in the attack.
Chris Larsen reported on January 31 that he lost substantial amounts from his personal crypto wallets, putting the figure at 213 million XRP, approximately $112.5 million. The next day, Binance CEO Richard Teng confirmed that his exchange had quarantined $4.2 million in XRP stolen during the hit. Reportedly, the attacker divided the stolen assets into eight separate wallet accounts. Six of these fed funds into a central wallet, which then transferred $70.9 million in XRP to another wallet. The remainder of the stolen XRP took several other routes before finally getting deposited into a Binance account.
Hacken's analysis of transactions into each of these wallets uncovered that previously, a wallet had transmitted $64.6 million in XRP to Larsen. This same wallet later transferred a smaller amount to one of the wallets that eventually handled the stolen funds. This creates the impression that the same individual who previously funded Larsen, also funded the attacker or that the attacker himself had once funded Larsen. Simultaneously, Hacken alleged the attacker channelled funds into a Kraken deposit account, the same account this mentioned wallet had once sent nearly $2 million in 2020.
Hacken pointed out that this particular wallet, with potential longstanding links to XRP, could have been an "authorized wallet". They stated that, "In this [$112.5 million hack] incident, two wallets linked to XRP’s authorized wallet assumed key roles. It’s [too] early for conclusions, but the narrative is becoming more enigmatic." The probe into the hack is still ongoing. Despite efforts to contact Ripple for a statement, there has been no reply till the time of this news release.
Published At
2/8/2024 1:00:00 AM
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