Former hedge fund manager alleges he lost $450,000 in crypto from a porn virus

Former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli has claimed that the massive crash of his cryptocurrency dubbed Martin Shkreli Inu (MSI) was due to a hack that emanated from an attempt to download a pornography file. 

This comes after the token plunged by over 90% following a dump from a crypto wallet linked to Shkreli. The wallet offloaded its holdings for 239 ETH, approximately $450,000. Interestingly, the dump occurred after the token had attained a weekly high. 

According to blockchain transactions tracker, Etherscan, a crypto wallet account dubbed 0xshkreli.eth transferred over 160 billion tokens to an unidentified wallet on August 12 before the MSI crashed.

Computer infected with malware 

In response to an investigation by YouTuber SomeOrdinaryGamers run by Muta Anas, Shkreli stated the token dump emerged after malware infected his computer while attempting to download adult content material. 

Shkreli, convicted of defrauding investors, shared the alleged file with the YouTuber, which contained a 700MB screensaver. 

According to the former hedge fund manager, the content enabled the hackers to deploy a remote trojan and gained access to his personal information, including the keys to the crypto wallet.

If Shkreli’s allegations are true, he might be at fault for failing to conduct due diligence in examining the extension at hand, which would have indicated a lack of any pornographic content. More questions have been raised considering that he reconnected to the internet before diagnosing what happened. 

Shkreli’s battle with credibility 

Notably, investors losing money in the token complicates matters for Shkreli, who is facing a credibility battle considering his history of financial crimes.

It is worth mentioning that Shkreli, who was scrutinized for spiking the value of a life-saving drug, was released from prison early this year. 

In July, he unveiled the Druglike company tied to MSI. He termed the Web3 project a software platform offering resources to individuals interested in early-stage drug discovery initiatives.