Israeli Hackers Burn Over $90 Million in BTC, ETH and DOGE Stolen in Nobitex Hack The exchange assures that the funds are safe.
In a shocking development within the recent Nobitex hack, Israeli hackers burned over $90 million in stolen digital assets.
The hack, attributed to pro-Israel hacker group Gunjeshke Darande, has left funds unrecoverable after being destroyed in multiple blockchains.
$90M in BTC, ETH, DOGE Burned in Nobitex Hack
After the high-profile Nobitex hack, Gonjeshke Darande, an Israeli hacker, has revealed a $90 million hoax in stolen cryptocurrencies. Among these assets are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and more.
In an X post, the hacker said, "8 burn addresses burned $90M from the wallet of Nobitex, the government's favorite sanctions-busting tool."
The group claimed to have destroyed the funds by transferring them to custom-made ‘vanity addresses’ on multiple blockchains. These addresses were designed with irretrievable private keys, making assets irrevocably and permanently locked.
Yesterday, Nobitex suffered a massive crypto hack Gonjeshke Darande, also known as Predatory Sparrow, claimed responsibility for the hack, saying it was retaliation for Nobitex's alleged involvement in evading Iranian government sanctions and financing terrorism.
Crypto Exchange Hack Raises Iran-Israel War Tensions
In particular, the Nobitex hack can be seen as an escalation of the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict, spilling over into the digital realm.
Adding further fuel to these geopolitical tensions, hackers are threatening to release Nobitex's source code to the public within 12 hours, potentially exposing vulnerabilities and compromising the platform's security.
They are pointing out that customers' assets will be at risk if they stay on Nobitex, suggesting they would be wise to withdraw.
While the Israeli hacker group mentions irreversible addresses, some of them contain inflammatory phrases, such as "FuckIRGCTerroristsNoBiTEX". This suggests that the group is directly targeting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Additionally, they used specific techniques to ensure the permanent loss of funds, including sending Ethereum tokens to a "0x…dead" burn address and creating a Bitcoin wallet with an incorrect checksum, rendering it unspendable.
Nobitex Responds to Security Breach
In response to the Nobitex hack, the Iranian crypto exchange has released an updated statement.
The firm announced that the situation is now under control. They asserted that all external access to their servers had been cut off.
The technical team of the Iranian crypto exchange proactively emptied the hot wallet to protect the user's assets. This resulted in a significant reduction in visible holdings on blockchain networks.
Additionally, he added that the hackers transferred the stolen funds, estimated at around $100 million, to non-standard wallets.
According to Nobitex, Israeli hackers announced the destruction of tokens under false pretenses with the intention of harming users. Despite the move, the exchange stressed that user assets are safe, citing,
We once again emphasize that user assets are covered by the Nobitex Reserve Fund, and no user funds will be lost. We remain committed to ensuring the safety of your holdings and maintaining your trust.