Stake (cryptocurrency platform)

History

2023: Hacker attack and $40 million kidnapping

In early September 2023, it became known that one of the largest cryptocurrency casino and sports betting platforms Stake was hacked. Network attackers managed to steal more than $40 million.

The incident was reported by Cyvers Alerts, a company specializing in information security issues. It is reported that the invasion was made possible due to the leakage of the private key. After the attack, the Stake platform was forced to temporarily disable the withdrawal function.

Hackers withdrew $40 million from the Stake cryptocurrency platform

The cyber attack involved unauthorised transactions from Stake ETH/BSC hot wallets, it is said. The Beosin report estimates the total damage at $41.3 million, including $15.7 million on the Ethereum blockchain and $7.8 million on Polygon. Another approximately $17.8 million was leaked from the Binance Smart Chain. At the same time, it is argued that the wallets Bitcoin, Ripple and Litecoin were not affected.

FBI specialists joined the investigation of the incident. They established that the Lazarus Group cyber group, which is allegedly associated with North Korea, was involved in the attack. The FBI has identified the addresses where the stolen funds are stored. The agency also accused the Lazarus Group of hacking Alphapo, CoinsPaid and Atomic Wallet, saying that losses from all these incursions in 2023 exceeded $200 million.

Stake says that all other platform wallets not directly affected by the attack (including storage, BTC LTC, XRP, EOS and TRX) are fully functional. In addition, Stake emphasizes that the attackers were able to steal only a small part of the funds, and therefore the hack will not affect users in any way. However, the FBI recommends that organizations strengthen security measures and be vigilant when conducting cryptocurrency asset-related transactions.^[1]

Notes