Vitalik Buterin’s X account hacked, over $691K drained from victims’ wallets

Following the breach of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s X (formerly Twitter) account, victims allegedly suffered losses exceeding $691,000 due to a malicious link falsely promoting a free NFT.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, allegedly had his X (formerly Twitter) account compromised. According to prominent blockchain investigator ZachXBT, the incident has led to victims collectively losing over $691,000 after clicking on a malicious link.

In a Sept. 9 post on X, Dmitry Buterin, the father of Vitalik, announced that his son’s account had been compromised:

“Disregard this post, apparently Vitalik has been hacked. He is working on restoring access.”

The post he was referring to has since been deleted. It was published on Buterin’s account, claiming to celebrate the arrival of “Proto-Danksharding coming to Ethereum.“

The hacker shared a malicious link to an alleged free commemorative nonfungible token (NFT) available, enticing victims to connect their wallets before ultimately stealing all their funds.

Consequently, this incident has led Ethereum developer Bok Khoo, better known as Bokky Poobah on X, to claim he has suffered losses in his CryptoPunk NFT collection. 

WARNING! I JUST LOST A FEW PUNKS!

DON'T INTERACT! pic.twitter.com/lS4VvlHdVa

— luckytimes.eth beautifuldaytobealive.eth (@BokkyPooBah) September 9, 2023

At the time of publication, the prevailing floor price for a CryptoPunk NFT stands at 46.99 Ether (ETH), which is approximately equivalent to $76,837.

Related: Blockchain Capital’s X account hacked to promote token claim scam

ZachXBT has been actively informing his 438,200 followers about the hacker’s activities. He recently shared that the most valuable NFT pilfered so far is CryptoPunk #3983, worth 153.62 ETH, equivalent to approximately $250,543.

Update: $691k drained (another 33% in drainer fee address) pic.twitter.com/AVIShqDlMU

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 9, 2023

A user with the alias Satoshi 767 suggested that Buterin might not have implemented sufficient security measures for his X account, noting that SIM-swap attacks are a "common mistake" for many crypto project founders.

However, ZachXBT challenged these allegations, asserting that Buterin’s high profile makes him susceptible to various forms of hacking attempts:

“You do not know yet whether it was a SIM swap. Vitalik is a big enough target to where an insider could have been paid off or panel was used,” ZachXBT stated.

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