Cryptocurrency

2024

Wrapped Bitcoin

Bitcoin

when

<div class="finbold">
 <p class="paragraph">A cryptocurrency investor has fallen victim to an address poisoning attack, resulting in a staggering loss of $70 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). The incident, which unfolded over the course of around six hours, has sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">According to a post by <em>Lookonchain</em> on the X, the unfortunate investor created a new address, “0xd9A1b0B1e1aE382DbDc898Ea68012FfcB2853a91,” and transferred a small amount of Ethereum (ETH), approximately 0.05 ETH, to this newly generated destination.</p>
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
  <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Crazy!<br><br>Someone lost 1,155 $WBTC($71M) due to a phishing <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="attack" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/attack.html">attack</a>.<br><br>How did it happen?<br><br>6 <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="hours" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/hours.html">hours</a> ago, this guy created a new address" 0xd9A1b0B1e1aE382DbDc898Ea68012FfcB2853a91" and transferred 0.05 $ETH to this new address.<br><br>A scammer generated an address with the same starting… pic.twitter.com/iiFloZBTga</p>— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 3, 2024
   </blockquote>
  </div>
 </figure>
 <p class="paragraph">This observed behavior is common in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, mainly due to the need for gas fees. Essentially, when cryptocurrency investors create new crypto wallet addresses, they need to fund them with the native token first to pay for future gas fees, in this case, Ether or ETH.</p>
 <div class="border border-red-300 rounded-xl p-6 not-prose mb-6">
  <h3 class="text-2xl font-black mt-0 flex gap-x-3 mb-5">
   <svg width="32" height="32" viewbox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="//www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M4 10.6665V25.3332C4 28.2678 6.392 29.3332 8 29.3332H28V26.6665H8.016C7.4 26.6505 6.66667 26.4078 6.66667 25.3332C6.66667 24.2585 7.4 24.0158 8.016 23.9998H28V5.33317C28 3.8625 26.804 2.6665 25.3333 2.6665H8C6.392 2.6665 4 3.73184 4 6.6665V10.6665ZM8 5.33317H25.3333V21.3332H6.66667V6.6665C6.66667 5.59184 7.4 5.34917 8 5.33317Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
    </path> <path d="M15.996 18.6668L20.4626 14.2815C20.738 14.0166 20.9571 13.6989 21.1068 13.3473C21.2564 12.9957 21.3336 12.6176 21.3336 12.2355C21.3336 11.8534 21.2564 11.4752 21.1068 11.1236C20.9571 10.7721 20.738 10.4543 20.4626 10.1895C19.9074 9.64148 19.1587 9.33422 18.3786 9.33422C17.5985 9.33422 16.8498 9.64148 16.2946 10.1895L15.996 10.4801L15.6973 10.1881C15.1423 9.64023 14.3938 9.33301 13.614 9.33301C12.8341 9.33301 12.0856 9.64023 11.5306 10.1881C11.2552 10.453 11.0361 10.7707 10.8865 11.1223C10.7368 11.4739 10.6597 11.852 10.6597 12.2341C10.6597 12.6162 10.7368 12.9944 10.8865 13.346C11.0361 13.6975 11.2552 14.0153 11.5306 14.2801L15.996 18.6668Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
    </path>
   </svg> Picks for you</h3>
  <div class="grid md:grid-cols-2 gap-x-10 gap-y-3 md:gap-y-5 divide-y divide-gray-300 md:divide-y-0">
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    U.S. billionaires now have a lower effective tax rate than working-class <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">24 mins ago</span>
   </div>
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    U.S. economic apocalypse imminent? Government debt market collapse begins <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">1 hour ago</span>
   </div>
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    Michael Saylor warns these popular cryptocurrencies will be deemed securities <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">2 hours ago</span>
   </div>
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
    Short squeeze alert for May: 2 cryptocurrencies with skyrocketing potential <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">2 hours ago</span>
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
 <div class="mb-4 bg-slate-50 rounded-md layout-adjustment">
  <div id="finbold.com_middle" style="min-width: 300px; min-height: 250px;">
  </div>
 </div>
 <p class="paragraph">However, a scammer had been waiting unbeknownst to the investor, ready to strike at the opportune moment.</p>
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-address-poisoning-attack">Address poisoning attack</h2>
 <p class="paragraph">The scammer, employing a technique known as address poisoning, generated an address that shared the same starting and ending letters as the investor’s new address. In a calculated move, the scammer transferred zero ETH to the investor, causing it to appear in the investor’s transaction history.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">Many cryptocurrency wallets hide the middle portion of addresses with ellipses (“…”) to enhance user interface aesthetics. Therefore, when the <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="investor" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/investor.html">investor</a> attempted to transfer their 1,155 WBTC, valued at approximately $71 <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="million" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/million.html">million</a>, they inadvertently copied the scammer’s cleverly crafted address, believing it to be their own.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">Notably, crypto users often only check the destination address by quickly glancing at the first and last four characters.</p>
 <p class="paragraph">The devastating consequence of this mistake was the irreversible transfer of the <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="investor" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/investor.html">investor</a>’s WBTC holdings to the scammer’s address. The crypto community has expressed shock and disbelief at the magnitude of the loss, with many calling for increased awareness and education surrounding the risks associated with cryptocurrency transactions.</p>
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
  <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">An address poisoning attack that MATCHED the first 4 and last 4 characters of the address!<br><br>How often have you glanced at your hardware wallet to confirm a transaction, and only validated those few characters? https://t.co/KwLFBKdCL5</p>— Ric “el pony esponjoso” (@fluffypony) May 3, 2024
   </blockquote>
  </div>
 </figure>
 <p class="paragraph">This incident underscores the critical importance of thoroughly verifying addresses before initiating any transfers, particularly when dealing with substantial sums of digital assets. As the cryptocurrency landscape continues to evolve, it is imperative that investors remain vigilant and stay abreast of the latest security measures and best practices to safeguard their investments.</p>
</div>
<p>Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/cryptocurrency-investor-loses-70-million-in-six-hours-address-poisoning-attack-tbt87458.html">https://thebittimes.com/cryptocurrency-investor-loses-70-million-in-six-hours-address-poisoning-attack-tbt87458.html</a></p>

Cryptocurrency investor loses $70 million in six hours: Address poisoning attack

Table of Contents

TheBitTimes

Other articles published on May 4, 2024

Solana (SOL) Fights for Recovery, Bitcoin (BTC) Eyes $60,000 Milestone, Dogecoin (DOGE) Yields Pr...

Fed’s Williams insists that 2% inflation target ‘critical’

3 Hottest Presale Gems to Buy Now for Potential 100x Gains – $DOGEVERSE, $WAI, and $DICE

More than half of the Fortune 100 uses Apple’s Vision Pro headset

Crypto Coin’s Price Plummets Following Airdrop: An In-depth Analysis of the Coin’s Performance (S...

Bitcoin (BTC) Soars: Bull Trap or Bear Trap? Unraveling the Crypto Market Mystery

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!