Bittensor, a decentralized network, was forced to halt its network activity on July 3 after a series of wallet drains stole at least $8 million worth of digital assets. The network outage was announced by Ala Shaabana, the co-founder of Bittensor, in a July 3 X post, stating that the chain had been put into safe mode to contain the exploit.
The theft was first discovered by pseudonymous onchain investigator ZachXBT, who reported that the unknown address “5FbW” was exploited to obtain 32,000 Bittensor (TAO) tokens worth approximately $8 million. This is not the first time Bittensor has been targeted, as a different wallet was drained for $11.2 million worth of TAO tokens on June 1.
The latest attack highlights the ongoing concerns about hacks and exploits in the crypto space, which have delayed mass adoption. In the past 13 years, the crypto industry has suffered nearly $19 billion worth of thefts, with 785 reported crypto hacks.
Private key leaks have surpassed smart contract thefts as the primary cause of hacked funds, according to Merkle Science’s “2024 Crypto HackHub Report”. Over 55% of the hacked digital assets were lost to private key leaks during 2023, with hackers increasingly targeting areas outside smart contracts.
Mriganka Pattnaik, co-founder and CEO of crypto risk and intelligence platform Merkle Science, told Cointelegraph that hackers are vying for easier targets, and private key leaks are often due to phishing attacks or insecure storage practices.
The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of secure storage practices and the need for robust security measures to protect digital assets. As the crypto space continues to evolve, it is crucial that networks and users prioritize security to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
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Source: Cointelegraph
