Malicious actors hack yet another X account of a prominent crypto-related entity.
A recent security breach in the social media account of Ethereum's co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has led to significant financial losses for several individuals.
Blockchain expert ZachXBT alerted the public about the incident, noting that the hack had severe consequences for several Ethereum community members. It is believed that collectively, hackers lured almost $700,000 from unsuspected victims.
Did you know?
Want to get smarter & wealthier with crypto?
Subscribe - We publish new crypto explainer videos every week!
What Does Staking Mean in Crypto? (Easily Explained!)
In a follow-up, ZachXBT divulged that the most valuable non-fungible token (NFT) stolen was CryptoPunk #3983, worth approximately 153.62 Ether (ETH) or around $250,543.
On September 9th, Vitalik's father, Dmitry Buterin, promptly issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) confirming the security breach.
Disregard this post, apparently Vitalik has been hacked. He is working on restoring access.
It is worth noting that the malicious post Vitalk's father is referring to was celebrating the arrival of a new Ethereum feature called “Proto-Danksharding.” However, at the time of writing, the post has been removed.
The hacker utilized the opportunity to share a deceptive link, promising a free commemorative NFT. Unwary users connected their wallets only to find their accounts completely drained afterward.
One of the victims was Bok Khoo, an Ethereum developer popularly known as Bokky Poobah. The developer unveiled the loss of assets in his CryptoPunk NFT collection, which currently has a floor price of approximately 46.99 ETH or about $76,837.
While some users questioned Vitalik's security measures, a social media user with the pseudonym Satoshi 767 claimed that Vitalik should take responsibility for the security lapse, as his lack of adequate security may have enabled the hack.
I hate to be the one to say it, but Vitalik should take accountability for his poor op-sec and compensate those affected.
However, ZachXBT disputed these assumptions, stating:
You do not know yet whether it was a SIM swap. Vitalik is a big enough target to where an insider could have been paid off or a panel was used.
The incident has served as a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities that even high-profile crypto figures face and the ripple effects their compromises can have on the broader community.
However, Vitalik Buterin is neither the first nor probably the last prominent figure in the crypto world to get hacked. At the end of July, Unsiwap CEO Hayden Adams to a security breach on Twitter.
