XRP Community on High Alert as 21M XRP Lost in Atomic Wallet Hack

XRP community faces a significant hack, leading to urgent calls for migration as users of Atomic Wallet are at risk due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

In a shocking turn of events, the XRP community is reeling from what has been described as one of the largest hacks in the crypto scene. The hack cut across several communities and exposed a vulnerability in Atomic Wallet, a popular multi-currency wallet.

Martin Hiesboeck, the Head of Research at Uphold Exchange, took to Twitter to express his concerns about the incident. Hiesboeck noted that over 594K XRP had been stolen, but further data suggests this figure might be up to 21 million XRP.

While describing the hack episode as “the biggest hacks in the history of crypto,” he emphasized the pressing need for improved cybersecurity in decentralized finance (DeFi).

The atomic wallet hack of this weekend was one of the biggest hacks in the history of crypto — again proving my conviction that we are far away from feasible, decentralized finance. #Defi We need to solve the #cybersecurity problem first.

With centralized exchanges collapsing… pic.twitter.com/QNnWRQasTa

— 🟩 Dr Martin Hiesboeck (@MHiesboeck) June 4, 2023

Hiesboeck further suggested that responsible and transparent platforms like Uphold could be a safer alternative with their round-the-clock cybersecurity operations. Recall that a top executive at Uphold said XRP met all exchange listing criteria, followed by a launch of OTC for XRP investors, as reported by The Crypto Basic.

Urgent Calls for XRP Investors to Migrate

Wietse Wind, an XRPL developer, urged those who generated their accounts with Atomic Wallet to take immediate action by either rekeying their accounts or transferring their funds to a new Xumm-generated account, as their assets were at risk due to their previous association with Atomic Wallet.

If you generated your account in Atomic wallet, even if later migrated to Xumm: REKEY NOW, of move your funds to a new Xumm generated account. Your funds are at risk if your wallet was once generated with Atomic.

This also applies to non XRPL Atomic generated accounts. Act NOW. https://t.co/a3HqujlGJl

— WietseWind (🛠 Xumm @ XRPL Labs) (@WietseWind) June 4, 2023

An XRPL validator node operator, Chris Thompson, echoed a similar sentiment, cautioning users against cross-contaminating their keys. Thompson emphasized the need to establish new wallet addresses in any new wallet app and promptly transfer funds to mitigate the ongoing risk of the atomic hack.

XRP Forensics revealed that approximately 700 XRPL accounts were breached, with a potential loss of 21 million XRP worth over $11 million. The organization stressed the importance of creating an entirely new account rather than simply importing the existing account into a different wallet app.

Based on ledger activity, we estimate that ~700 XRPL accounts were breached with a total sum of 21M XRP

— XRP Forensics (xrplorer.com) (@xrpforensics) June 4, 2023

With the extent of the breach becoming evident, affected users are encouraged to act swiftly to safeguard their assets by moving their funds to a new account. ZachXBT, a notable on-chain sleuth, estimates the total stolen funds across all assets to be above $35 million.

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