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I Saw Hackers Drain $45,000 From My Wallets: What Did I Do Wrong and Which Cryptocurrencies Need Fixing – DL News
- The malware infected my computer and left my wallets exposed.
- The stolen funds remain intact in the hacker’s wallet.
- I have some ideas on how crypto platforms can better protect investors.
As of noon on May 13, there were $45,000 worth of tokens in my MetaMask crypto wallets.
An hour later, it was all gone.
Sitting at my desk in my home in Lagos, Nigeria, I stared blankly at my computer screen, struggling to register the impact of what had happened.
On multiple open browser tabs on my computer, I could see several crypto transactions going out of my wallet to unknown addresses.
I was confused.
I looked at the timestamps displayed on many transactions and knew I couldn’t initiate them.
This was because I was busy working on another computer for three hours.
My shock quickly gave way to dismay when I realized that I had somehow been hacked. But how?
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Pain and guilt
I have been a cryptocurrency reporter for seven years and in this time I have covered many cases of token owners who lost their funds to hackers.
Now, the same thing had just happened to me.
I felt pangs of pain and guilt remembering that most of the funds belonged not to me but to my family.
They began accumulating these crypto tokens — Ether, Tether’s USDT stablecoin, and Jasmy, an altcoin — in 2020, after Covid-19 lockdowns sparked economic volatility.
As the family’s resident expert, it was up to me to take care of their possessions, to keep them safe. I was their cryptocurrency custodian and my record was spotless.
Until now.
As painful as the theft was, it was nothing compared to the anguish I felt as I informed my family of what had happened.
The pain I saw etched on their faces reminded me of my late father’s passing in 2017. My story casts the transparency of public blockchains in a different light.
In just a few swipes at the computer, I can see my stolen cryptocurrency in someone else’s wallet, yet I can’t recover my assets. It’s a macabre reminder of my ordeal.
The reality is that a similar fate has befallen many cryptocurrency users, from professionals to beginners.
‘It’s easy to lose your cryptocurrencies if you make a mistake. In my case it all started with a game.’
Billionaire Mark Cuban last year it lost $870,000 to a hacker after saying he downloaded a MetaMask wallet “with some shit in it.”
In 2023, cryptocurrency investors lost $1.7 billion to thievesaccording to Chainalysis, the blockchain forensics company.
It’s easy you lose your cryptocurrency if you make a mistake like downloading contaminated software that exposes your wallet details.
Sometimes, you can lose your funds if careful hacker poison your wallet address creating a fake wallet that closely matches that of the victim.
In my case it all started with a game.
Keylogger
I had promised to help a younger relative of mine download a game called “Dave The Driver”.
He became impatient and tried to do it himself. The problem was that he used the computer with the browser wallet that contained my family’s crypto assets.
He downloaded a version of the game containing malware and immediately infected my laptop.
The malware likely installed a keylogger, a program that records keystrokes, and exposed the details of my MetaMask wallet, allowing the hacker to steal the encryption.
Many online wallets, including MetaMask, do not use proven security measures to prevent theft, such as fraud alerts and two-factor authentication.
If this was an account at my bank, I would have received a fraud alert as soon as the first transaction was initiated.
The bank would suspend the transaction and give me enough time to confirm whether I had indeed initiated the funds transfer.
Virtually no such preventative features exist for crypto wallets.
Funds staked safely
In fact, the only warning I received from a centralized exchange where I held some tokens. Apparently the hacker was trying to access my assets and the exchange asked him for a two-factor authentication code.
That attempt was unsuccessful and I managed to retain those assets, but it was a small sum. However, here was a situation where two-factor authentication, or 2FA, worked well.
The hacker also tried to steal funds from other wallets I used that had staked cryptocurrencies, but they were unsuccessful.
“Unless the hacker forgets, I would race the thief to secure the assets invested in a new wallet.”
This is because blockchains like Cosmos typically require users to wait 14 to 21 days to withdraw staked assets after they have been unlocked.
The hacker started the unstaking process, but was unable to transfer the tokens to his wallet. I have since rearranged those crypto tokens, but that hardly solves the problem.
(Staking is a process that allows your tokens to be used to validate transactions on a blockchain network.)
Unless the hacker forgets about my assets, I’ll be in a race with the thief to secure those staked assets in a new wallet when they become available for pickup, but that’s a problem for another day.
As for the immediate aftermath, I am grateful that my family did not blame me or my young relative for exposing their assets.
Reflecting on the stories I had written about similar cases, I realized that I hadn’t thought much about the families of people who had lost crypto funds to hackers.
My goal was to explain how the hacks occurred, where the funds went, and possible recovery efforts.
I can see the resources
What was especially frustrating was the fact that I can still see my stolen property three weeks after the crime.
Most of the stolen cryptocurrencies are found in the two addresses belonging to the hacker. They can be seen Here AND Here.
In any case, I contacted a blockchain security company to try to stop the hacker from exchanging the stolen cryptocurrency for cash via a centralized exchange.
They told me it would cost them $2,000 to try to block the hacker’s wallet addresses.
Recovery of stolen cryptocurrencies is usually a lengthy process involving law enforcement action and the cooperation of cryptocurrency exchanges.
My family members decided it was best to absorb the loss.
They were not thrilled at the prospect of spending more money chasing the hacker when there was little or no chance of recovery.
Better safeguards are needed
I have had time to reflect on what happened and there are lessons to be learned from my experience.
First and foremost, keep computers containing valuable crypto wallets away from children!
On a more serious note, crypto wallets need better collateral.
If the goal is large-scale adoption of cryptocurrencies, then secure storage of these digital assets must become easier, especially for those who prefer self-custody.
Self-custody comes with the expectation that you are responsible for keeping your possessions safe.
But users need more help, perhaps in the form of real-time alerts and two-factor authentication.
There are smart contract solutions like Safe’s multi-signature wallet where more than one signer is needed to complete a transaction.
While multi-sig wallets help improve security, individual signers must protect their own keys – again, with self-custody, it is up to the user to ensure the security of the wallet.
Multi-signature to the rescue?
Assuming you had set up a multi-sig deal with the compromised wallets, the hacker would still have been able to steal the funds. They would use each compromised address to sign the transactions needed to move the funds.
The process would have been slower, but they would have gotten away with my family’s money.
However, it is bad practice to set up a multi-sig controlled by a single entity.
Ideally, each signer would be a different family member whose wallets were on separate devices.
And that’s what we did.
Some may point out the mistake of keeping funds in an online wallet prone to hacker attacks. Or suppose the tokens would have to be securely placed in an offline wallet, like the type offered by hardware wallet makers.
That was the plan, even if I had been slow to move.
And now they’ve given me a $45,000 lesson for my lethargy.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our DeFi correspondent based in Nigeria. He covers DeFi and technology. To share story tips or information, contact him at osato@dlnews.com.
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Cryptocurrency Price August 1: Bitcoin Dips Below $65K; Solana, XRP Down Up To 8%
Major cryptocurrencies fell in Thursday trading following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its key interest rate unchanged. Overnight, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate at 5.25-5.5% for the eighth consecutive time, as expected, while also signaling the possibility of a rate cut at its next meeting in September. The unanimous decision by the Federal Open Market Committee reflects a continued wait-and-see approach as it monitors inflation trends.
CoinSwitch Markets Desk said: “Bitcoin has fallen below $65,000 after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates unchanged. However, with markets now anticipating rate cuts at the next Federal Reserve meeting in September, the outlook for a Bitcoin rally by the end of the year has strengthened.”
Meanwhile, CoinDCX research team said: “The crypto market has plunged after the Fed decision. Tomorrow’s US unemployment rate announcement is expected to induce more volatility, with the ‘actual’ figure coming in higher than the ‘expected’ one, which is positive for cryptocurrencies.”
At 12:21 pm IST, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 3.2% at $64,285, while Ethereum was down nearly 4.5% at $3,313. Meanwhile, the global market cryptocurrency The market capitalization fell 3.6% to around $2.3 trillion in the last 24 hours.
“Bitcoin needs to clear its 200-day EMA at $64,510 to consolidate further. Otherwise, a retest of $62,000 could be in the cards,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.
Altcoins and meme coins, such as BNB (3%), Solana (8%), XRP (5.7%), Dogecoin (5%), Cardano (4.6%), Avalanche (4.3%), Shiba Inu (3.8%), Polkadot (3.4%), and Chainlink (4%) also saw declines.
The volume of all stablecoins is now $71.64 billion, which is 92.19% of the total cryptocurrency market volume in 24 hours, according to data available on CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 54.99%. BTC volume in the last 24 hours increased by 23.3% to $35.7 billion.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, opinions and views provided by experts are personal. They do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
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Altcoins WIF, BONK, RUNE, JUP Down 10% While Bitcoin Drops 4%
Altcoins dogwifhat, Bonk, THORChain, and Jupiter have suffered losses of more than 10%, while Bitcoin is down 4% in the last 24 hours.
After a period of relative calm yesterday, July 31, Bitcoin (BTC) price action has seen a drastic change as the cryptocurrency dropped by more than $3,500, bringing its value to $63,300. At the same time, altcoins mirrored this trend, with the total value of liquidated positions rising to nearly $225 million over the course of the day.
Initially, the week started on a positive note for Bitcoin, which reached its highest point since early June, hitting $70,000. However, this peak was short-lived, as it was quickly rejected, leading to a substantial decline, with Bitcoin falling below $65,500.
The cryptocurrency managed to regain some stability, trading comfortably at around $66,800. However, following a Press conference According to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the value of Bitcoin has fallen again to $64,300, down more than 3% in 24 hours.
BTC Price Chart 24 Hours | Source: crypto.news
The recession coincided with a relationship from the New York Times stating that Iran had called for retaliatory measures against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, increasing the risk of further conflict in the region.
Meanwhile, on the economic front, the Federal Reserve decided to keep its benchmark interest rates in place, offering little information on a planned September rate cut. Powell also hinted that while no concrete decisions have been made on the September adjustment, there is growing consensus that a rate cut is likely.
Amid Bitcoin’s decline, altcoins have suffered even more significant losses. For example, dogwifhat (Wife) saw a 12.4% drop and (DISGUST) has suffered a 10% drop. Other altcoins such as THORChain (RUNE) also fell by 10%, while Jupiter (JUPITER) and the Ethereum naming service (ENS) decreased by 8% and 9% respectively.
Among the largest-cap cryptocurrencies, the biggest losers are Solana (SOL) with a decrease of 8%, (Exchange rate risk) down 6%, Cardano (ADA) down 4%, and both Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) recording a decrease of 4.4%.
Data from CoinGlass indicates that approximately 67,000 traders have been negatively impacted by this increased volatility. BTC positions have seen $61.85 million in liquidations, while ETH positions have faced $61 million. In total, the value of liquidated positions stands at $225.4 million at the time of writing.
News
Riot Platforms Sees 52% Drop in Bitcoin Production in Q2
Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has released its second-quarter financial results, highlighting a decline in cryptocurrency mined due to the recent halving.
Colorado-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Riot platforms revealed its second quarter financial results, highlighting a significant reduction in mined cryptocurrencies attributed to the recent halving event that took place in early April.
The company reported total revenue of $70 million for the quarter ended July 31, a decline of 8.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Riot Platforms attributed the revenue decline primarily to a $9.7 million decrease in engineering revenue, which was partially mitigated by a $6 million increase in Bitcoin extraction income.
During the quarter, the company mined 844 BTC, representing a decline of over 50% from Q2 2023, citing the halving event and increasing network difficulty as major factors behind the decline. Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million, or $0.32 per share, missing Zacks Research forecast a loss of $0.16 per share.
Halving increases competitive pressure
The Colorado-based firm said the average cost of mining one BTC in the second quarter, including energy credits, rose to $25,327, a remarkable 341% increase from $5,734 per BTC in the same quarter of 2023. Despite this significant increase in production costs, the firm remains optimistic about maintaining competitiveness through recent deals.
For example, following the Recent acquisition Cryptocurrency firm Block Mining, Riot has increased its distributed hash rate forecast from 31 EH/s to 36 EH/s by the end of 2024, while also increasing its 2025 forecast from 40 EH/s to 56 EH/s.
Riot Platforms Hashrate Growth Projections by 2027 | Source: Riot Platforms
Commenting on the company’s financials, Riot CEO Jason Les said that despite the halving, the mining company still managed to achieve “significant operational growth and execution of our long-term strategy.”
“Despite this reduction in production available to all Bitcoin miners, Riot reported $70 million in revenue for the quarter and maintained strong gross margins in our core Bitcoin mining business.”
Jason Les
Following its Q2 financial report, Riot Platforms shares fell 1.74% to $10.19, according to Google Finance data. Meanwhile, the American miner continues to chase Canadian rival Bitfarms, recently acquiring an additional 10.2 million BITF shares, increasing its stake in Bitfarms to 15.9%.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Riot was the first announced a $950 million takeover bid for Bitfarms in late May, arguing that Bitfarms’ founders were not acting in the best interests of all shareholders. They said their proposal was rejected by Bitfarms’ board without substantive engagement.
In response, Bitfarms She said that Riot’s offer “significantly understates” its growth prospects. Bitfarms subsequently implemented a shareholder rights plan, also known as a “poison pill,” to protect its strategic review process from hostile takeover attempts.
News
Aave Price Increases Following Whales Accumulation and V3.1 Launch
Decentralized finance protocol Aave is seeing a significant spike in whale activity as the market looks to recover from the recent crash that pushed most altcoins into key support areas earlier this week.
July 31, Lookonchain shared details indicating that the whales had aggressively accumulated Aave (AAVE) over the past two days. According to the data, whales have withdrawn over 58,848 AAVE worth $6.47 million from exchanges during this period.
In one instance, whale address 0x9af4 withdrew 11,185 AAVE worth $1.23 million from Binance. Meanwhile, another address moved 21,619 AAVE worth over $2.38 million from the exchange and deposited the tokens into Aave.
These withdrawals follow a previous transfer of 26,044 AAVE from whale address 0xd7c5, amounting to over $2.83 million withdrawn from Binance.
AAVE price has surged over 7% in the past 24 hours amid buy-side pressure from these whales. The DeFi token is currently trading around $111 after jumping over 18% in the past week.
Recently, the price of AAVE increased by over 8% after Aave founder Marc Zeller announced a proposed fee change aimed at adopting a buyback program for AAVE tokens.
Aave v3.1 is available
The total value locked in the Aave protocol currently stands at around $22 billion. According to DeFiLlamaApproximately $19.9 billion is on Aave V3, while the V2 chain still holds approximately $1.9 billion in TVL and V1 approximately $14.6 million.
Aave Labs announced Previously, Aave V3.1 was made available on all networks with active Aave V3 instances.
V3.1 features improvements that are intended to improve the overall security of the DeFi protocol. The Aave DAO governance has approved the v3.1 improvements, which also include operational efficiency and usability for the network.
Meanwhile, Aave Labs recently outlined a ambitious roadmap for the projectwith a 2030 vision for Aave V4, among other developments.
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