Solana attack targets thousands of crypto wallets, costing users more than $5 million
Nearly 8,000 digital wallets have been drained of just over $5.2 million in digital coins including solana’s sol token and USD Coin (USDC), according to
Nearly 8,000 digital wallets have been drained of just over $5.2 million in digital coins including solana’s sol token and USD Coin (USDC), according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. The Twitter account Solana Status confirmed the attack, noting that as of Wednesday morning, approximately 7,767 wallets have been affected by the exploit. Elliptic’s estimate is slightly higher at 7,936 wallets.
Solana’s sol token, one of the largest cryptocurrencies after bitcoin and ether, fell about 8% in the first two hours after the hack was initially detected, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It’s currently down about 1%, while trading volume is up about 105% in the last 24 hours.
Starting Tuesday evening, multiple users began reporting that assets held in “hot” wallets — that is, internet-connected addresses, including Phantom, Slope and Trust Wallet — had been emptied of funds.
Phantom said on Twitter that it’s investigating the “reported vulnerability in the solana ecosystem” and doesn’t believe it’s a Phantom-specific issue. Blockchain audit firm OtterSec tweeted that the hack has affected multiple wallets “across a wide variety of platforms.”
Elliptic chief scientist Tom Robinson told CNBC the root cause of the breach is still unclear, but “it appears to be due to a flaw in certain wallet software, rather than in the solana blockchain itself.” OtterSec added that the transactions were being signed by the actual owners, “suggesting some sort of private key compromise.” A private key is a secure code that grants the owner access to their crypto holdings.
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