Hack of Vitalik Buterin’s X Account Leads to $691K Stolen

Hackers who took control of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s X account have stolen more than $691,000 after posting a malicious phishing link that gained access to people’s wallets.

Blockchain analyst ZachXBT said $691,000 had been drained from people’s wallets, with 73% of that value being in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The tweet containing the malicious link has since been deleted.

ZachXBT declined to speculate on whether Buterin was the victim of a “SIM swap” attack, stating that the Ethereum founder, who has 4.9 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, is a “big enough target to where an insider could have been paid off.” SIM swapping involves taking control of someone’s phone number in order to overcome some two-factor security measures on websites like crypto exchanges or social media sites.

Earlier this year it was reported that crypto investors lost a total of $54 million in a single month at the hands of rug pulls, scams and hacks.

Last month, the Terra blockchain’s official website was taken over by hackers who posted a series of malicious links. It is unclear how much was ultimately stolen.