Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, declared that the platform has placed a hold on accounts containing stolen Ripple (XRP) coins valued at $4.2 million following a recent security breach.
The recent Ripple hack involved the theft and laundering of more than 213 million XRP tokens through multiple exchanges, highlighting growing security concerns within the cryptocurrency industry.
Ripple, the digital payment network built on blockchain technology, has fallen victim to a significant security breach. The breach led to the theft of approximately 213 XRP tokens, valued at approximately $112.5 million.
Laundering and Exchanges:
The stolen funds were swiftly laundered through several well-known cryptocurrency exchanges, including MEXC, Gate, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX, HitBTC, and others.
Concerns and Responses:
This incident has triggered heightened concerns surrounding the security measures for digital assets and the responsibility of exchanges in preventing unauthorized access and breaches.
Investigations conducted by TRM Labs, a blockchain security platform, have revealed that the funds were pilfered from the original XRP wallet address
rJNLz3A1qPKfWCtJLPhmMZAfBkutC2Qojm.
XRP $120 million Hack, Jan 2024 Source: TRMLabs
Laundering Process:
The stolen XRP tokens were swiftly transferred and laundered through various cryptocurrency exchanges via a series of transactions involving multiple addresses.
Key Addresses Identified:
TRM Labs' investigation has identified several key addresses involved in the laundering process, including:
Challenges:
Despite ongoing efforts to trace these transactions and recover the stolen funds, the intricate laundering process deployed presents significant challenges.
In a statement on February 1, Binance's CEO Richard Teng confirmed the freezing of multiple accounts linked to the stolen XRP funds, with a total of 8.3 million XRP coins (~$4.2 million) being frozen at the time of the announcement. Teng assured continued collaboration with Ripple and relevant parties to aid in the comprehensive recovery of the funds siphoned by unknown exploiters.
He pledged ongoing support for Ripple's investigations and efforts to reclaim the funds, including close monitoring of the majority of funds still held in the exploiter's external wallets in case of any deposits to Binance.
Teng expressed gratitude to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, who initially flagged the suspicious transactions on January 31 and disclosed findings related to the 213 million XRP theft and subsequent distribution of the funds across exchanges to launder the stolen assets.
Ripple co-founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen acknowledged that the funds were his. However, details regarding the unauthorized access to his personal accounts were not disclosed.
The nature of the event was unusual, deviating from typical hack patterns by involving a prolonged timeline, draining funds over at least 10 hours before depositing on centralized exchanges like Binance, and utilizing crypto mixers like Tornado Cash to obfuscate the trail.
This recent Ripple hack underscores the security vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency world and highlights the importance of enhanced security measures and vigilant monitoring by crypto exchanges and custody service providers. As the investigation unfolds, this incident serves as a cautionary reminder of the risks associated with digital asset storage and transfer.
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