$40M Stolen in Stake.com Gaming Platform Hack
Stake.com, a well-known cryptocurrency sports betting and casino gaming platform where renowned rapper Drake frequently places massive bets, has been struck by a million-dollar hack. This incident led to the theft of over $41 million in digital currency.
The incident was first brought to light through a social media platform, Cyvers Alerts, which specializes in digital security. The hack was attributed to a private key leak, and it was possible to observe the exploit in real-time.
The heist affected only the Kick project backers' assets, not those of the users. Soon after the breach was detected, Stake.com temporarily suspended withdrawals, but they were restored a few hours later.
The account that withdrew the funds was named "Stake.com Hacker" by Etherscan. The initial theft happened at around 1 p.m. on a Monday, with approximately $3.9 million worth of Tether (USDT) being transferred. Two more transactions for 6,001 Ethereum (ETH), amounting to about $9.8 million, also occurred.
Three hours before the post, unauthorized transactions were made from Stake's ETH/BSC hot wallets.
We're investigating and will have the wallets back up as soon as they're completely secured.
User funds are safe.
Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, XRP, EOS, TRX, and all other wallets still function normally.
— Stake.com (@Stake) September 4, 2023
Huge Financial Setback
The hackers later withdrew $1 million in USD Coin (USDC), $900,000 in Dai (DAI), and 333 Stake Classic, with the latter being valued below a hundred dollars. They distributed the funds across various accounts.
Beosin, a security company, assessed the total loss to be around $41.3 million, encompassing $15.7 million on the Ethereum blockchain and $7.8 million on Polygon. Furthermore, $17.8 million from the Binance Smart Chain was also stolen.
Services for users were restored by Stake.com around five hours after they were halted. The company acknowledged that Bitcoin, Ripple, and Litecoin wallets remained unaffected.
Blockchain Protection
The vast majority of cryptocurrencies are based on public blockchains, which means that all transactions are recorded on a decentralized and transparent ledger. Although transactions are pseudonymous, they can still be traced through addresses.
Exchanges and blockchain analysis companies use advanced techniques to cluster multiple addresses together, commonly known as "address clustering." This process helps reveal which addresses are controlled by the same entity by analyzing transaction patterns, jointly-owned inputs, and other indicators.
Specialized tools and services provided by blockchain analytics companies like Chainalysis and Elliptic allow for cryptocurrency transaction tracking. They collect and investigate data from several sources to trace the flow of misappropriated funds. These tools can uncover patterns, similarities, and potential connections between the addresses involved in the theft.
Some hackers may employ privacy-centric cryptocurrencies like Monero or use mixing services to obscure the origin of looted funds. While this complicates tracing, it's not entirely impossible. Some blockchain analysis tools have started to track privacy coins, and law enforcement agencies are increasingly focusing on this sector.
Recent reports from Beosin indicate that $656 million in cryptocurrency was lost through scams, hacks, and rug pulls during the first six months of 2023. This represents only 34% of the $1.91 billion reported in the same period of 2022. Beosin also mentioned that 45.5% of the assets have been recovered, with a meager 8% being recovered a year earlier.
Read also:
- Leverkusen claims victory in the cup, securing a double triumph.
- Alonso achieves a double victory after consuming a German brew.
- Does the SVolt factory in Saarland face stability issues?
- Furor surrounding Sylt scandal footage