Mark Cuban Recovers $3 Million in Cryptocurrencies After Hack
Date: 2023-09-17 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: BUSINESS, IN WORLD
The Compromise and Recovery
Colin Wu, the Chinese reporter, reported that Cuban's wallet fell victim to a compromise after 160 days of inactivity. The compromised wallet contained various cryptocurrencies, including 175,000 USDC, 4,860 USDT, 7,020 RARI, 12,360 MATIC, 338.21 StETH, 5.29 ETH, 8,247 WETH, 697.48K RARE, 16.67K BIT, 5.92 GOHM, and 10,000 AUDIO. Despite the recovery of a portion of his assets, Cuban still incurred losses of approximately $870,000 due to the attack.
Initial Detection by Wazz
The incident was initially brought to light by an independent blockchain researcher known as Wazz. He was among the first to notice the "unusual behavior" of the wallet owner after such a prolonged period of inactivity. Wazz shared a screenshot of the recent actions of the wallet owner on the X application and inquired whether the wallet had been compromised.
According to available information, Mark Cuban confirmed the hack a few hours after Wazz's post. The well-known investor admitted to "checking into the MetaMask address after several months of inactivity."
Speculations and Reactions
Cuban speculated that the hacker may have waited for an opportune moment to steal the crypto assets. Reflecting on the incident, a user named X Cryptomom suggested that the businessman might have unknowingly authorized a fraudulent transaction on MetaMask. Additionally, many questioned why a prominent entrepreneur would store such substantial sums of digital assets in a hot wallet.
However, X Union, another user, debunked Cryptomom's assumptions. He stated that the transaction details on Etherscan indicated that Cuban's private key had been compromised.
This incident involving Mark Cuban serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present risks associated with cryptocurrency holdings and underscores the importance of robust security measures in the crypto world.
