Atomic Wallet, a noncustodial decentralized wallet, has suffered a significant exploit that has caused users to lose their entire cryptocurrency portfolios. The breach has raised concerns in the crypto community, as Atomic Wallet emphasizes user responsibility for secure asset storage.
Furthermore, the losses resulting from the heist have exceeded $100 million, impacting approximately 5,500 crypto wallets.
Despite the severity of the incident, Atomic Wallet has not provided any explanation for the cause of the losses, leaving users frustrated and seeking clarification. The company’s lack of updates has drawn criticism from users on Twitter, questioning why they were not warned about the security risks before the hack occurred.
Elliptic, an analysis firm, has linked the heist to the Lazarus Group, notorious for previous crypto asset thefts amounting to over $2 billion. Collaboration with international investigators and exchanges has enabled the freezing of over $1 million worth of stolen funds.
However, the thief has adapted their behavior, using the Russia-based Garantex exchange for laundering purposes.
This incident adds to a string of notable breaches in the crypto space, including recent attacks on Jimbos Protocol and Tornado Cash’s governance.
In 2022, hackers reportedly absconded with around $3.8 billion in cryptocurrency, with North Korea and decentralized finance protocols being prime targets, according to a Chainalysis report.
