On January 31, Chris Larsen, co-founder, and executive chairman of Ripple, revealed that his personal accounts had fallen victim to a cyberattack.
The initial report came from crypto analyst ZachXBT, leading to early speculations that the entire company had suffered a security breach.
However, Larsen clarified that the unauthorized access targeted his personal XRP accounts, distinguishing them from Ripple’s official accounts.
He acted swiftly, detecting the issue and promptly alerting cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze the affected addresses. Law enforcement agencies have been engaged to investigate the matter.
The exact amount of XRP stolen remains unconfirmed, but ZachXBT estimated the breach’s haul at 213 million XRP, valued at approximately $112.5 million at the time of the incident.
Following the breach, the malicious actors attempted to launder the stolen XRP by routing it through at least six different cryptocurrency exchanges.
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Larsen’s recent statement indicated that law enforcement has intervened, leading to the freezing of accounts connected to the security breach.
However, the current status of the funds, whether they remain in exchange custody or have been recovered, remains uncertain. Ripple has not yet responded to inquiries regarding the incident.
The news of the hack spread quickly throughout the cryptocurrency community, causing a momentary dip in the price of XRP, with a temporary decrease of approximately $0.01.
Nevertheless, XRP’s value rebounded rapidly, and the cryptocurrency market remained relatively stable, showing resilience in the face of the security incident.
Although it seems that Ripple’s official accounts were not compromised, thereby safeguarding XRP-holder funds, this event stands out as one of the most significant cryptocurrency-related hacks of 2024 thus far.
The breach highlights the ongoing challenges of securing digital assets and the importance of swift action and cooperation with law enforcement agencies to mitigate the impact of such attacks.
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