Cuban becomes the latest victim of a substantial crypto hack.
Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and high-profile investor, has recently fallen victim to a hot wallet hack, resulting in a loss of nearly $900,000 in cryptocurrency.
On the evening of September 15th, blockchain detective Wazz flagged irregular transactions in a wallet that hadn’t seen activity from Cuban for about five months.
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The cybersecurity breach involved quick transfers of multiple types of cryptocurrencies, including USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Lido Staked Ether (stETH). As per transaction logs on Etherscan, all these assets were transferred within 10 minutes.
Shortly after the unauthorized transactions, an additional $2 million worth of USDC was moved from Cuban's account to another wallet. Initially, this led Wazz and others to think Cuban might be reorganizing his assets.
However, in a statement to DL News, Cuban later clarified that he had used MetaMask for the first time in several months. He suggested that the perpetrators might have been closely watching his activities, waiting for the right time to strike.
Further clearing the air, Cuban stated that the $2 million transfer to another wallet was actually his action to secure the remaining funds. He moved these assets to Coinbase Custody following the hack.
Crypto community members have been actively discussing possible reasons behind this significant breach. Some theories suggest Cuban may have unintentionally approved a harmful transaction. Others opine that his wallet's private key could have been compromised, given that the cryptocurrencies were moved directly out of his account.
This unfortunate event marks Cuban’s second significant crypto loss. He also faced financial setbacks in June 2021 due to the sudden collapse of an algorithmic stablecoin project named Iron Finance, which he had labeled a "rug pull."
The incident highlights the ever-present risks in the world of cryptocurrency, even for well-informed and high-profile investors like Cuban. Further information regarding the breach is yet to be released.
