The cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex is the largest in the country, with over 7 million users

The Iranian cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex, the largest in the country, with over 7 million users, was hacked for $90 million (about R$ 490 million) on Tuesday (17) by the hacker group linked to Israel, Gonjeshke Darande. The broker is used by the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's main military body, for overseas business circumventing sanctions.

Although there is still no confirmation that the funds were moved by the invaders, the hack appears to have been motivated by the recent escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran.

Nobitex confirmed the attack in a post on X, but did not mention or confirm the stolen funds. “Avoid making cryptocurrency deposits to Nobitex addresses until further notice,” it warned.

According to the blockchain security company Elliptic, the measure was taken after the hacker group issued a warning claiming to have carried out cyber attacks against Nobitex and committed to publish its source code this Wednesday (18).

So far, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT, the stolen tokens were on the Ethereum, Bitcoin, Tron, and Dogecoin networks.

Cyber attacks from Israel

The group linked to Israel also claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on Bank Sepah, a state-owned Iranian bank, the day before. “After Bank Sepah, it was Nobitex's turn,” referring to the cyber attack. The Nobitex website remains inaccessible at the time of writing this text.

According to Folha's investigation, there is an unconfirmed report that Gonjeshke Darande is maintained, that is, paid by Israel. However, the newspaper's figures diverge, reporting that the hack on Nobitex could have been $1.8 billion – or 95% of its crypto wallet.

As pointed out by Coindesk, with the source code leak approaching, Nobitex now faces not only financial losses but a complete credibility crisis — and users who have not yet moved their funds may lose everything, according to the subsequent threats from the hacker group. There are no official comments from Iran regarding the incident.