Massive Losses, Social Media Breaches, and Gradual Recoveries

Last week has been rather chaotic regarding crypto, with different incidents that directly impacted individual investors, large companies and various exchanges. From the recent phishing attack of 55 million dollars to the recent high-profile social media hijacker incident to the present attempt to recover lost funds, the frailties in the crypto realm are evident. Here is an account of the major developments that took place:

1. Whale loses $55 million in a devastating phishing attack

On August 20, a crypto whale lost about $55. 47 million in Dai (DAI). The case happened during the whale’s interaction with the DeFi protocol, Maker, where the whale by mistake executed an unverified transaction that made him lose ownership of the funds.

After the ownership was changed the attacker proceeded to cash out, exchanging half of the stolen Dai for 10,625 Ether (ETH). Although the mistake was noticed and the whale tried to buy the remaining crypto to minimize the loss, the change of ownership did not allow the reversal of the transaction and the overall loss became one of the major individual losses of the year.

2. McDonald’s Instagram account hijacked: Hacker steals $700,000 in a meme coin scam

In an unprecedented attack, the official McDonald’s Instagram page was breached on August 21. the intruders used the platform to solicit a fake cryptocurrency called Grimace. In stating this, India_X_kr3w alleged that he had defrauded 700, 000 through this campaign, thereby creating a lot of unease for McDonald’s 5. 1 million followers.

A blockchain analytics firm called Bubblemaps found that over 75 per cent of the Grimace token was held under the direct control of the hacker through multiple addresses in a pump-and-dump scheme. Suddenly the market cap of Grimace skyrocketed to $25 million and then returned to that of a common clone and the nature of such scams is highly unstable and risky.

While McDonald’s has since recouped their Instagram account, it is a clear sign of increased attacks of crypto hackers on mainline social media accounts.

3. WazirX begins INR withdrawals after $230M cyberattack: Crypto withdrawals are still locked

The Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX continues to gradually bring the possibility of INR withdrawal back after a cyberattack that took place on July 18, during which the attackers stole more than $ 230 million in cryptocurrencies. From August 26, that measure part of a plan to gradually restore access to funds will allow users to withdraw up to 66% of the amount they hold in INR.

While progress has been made on this front, the platform’s cryptocurrency withdrawals have been frozen until they can be safely restored, as WazirX continues to work on preventing most of the breach’s long-lasting consequences. 

The exchange has since assured its users of its efforts in protecting their funds and pledged to fully reopen for crypto withdrawals but the time has not been given yet.

Also Read: WazirX Users to Access 66% of INR Balances Amid $230M Cyber Attack Aftermath