Hundreds of crypto wallets drained across EVM chains, root cause still unidentified: ZachXBT

Hundreds of cryptocurrency wallets are being drained across various EVM chains, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT. Losses are mounting as the attack remains ongoing.

In his Telegram channel, ZachXBT stated that the attacker is targeting a large number of wallets for relatively small sums, with losses typically under $2,000 per victim. 

While individual thefts remain at a modest size, the cumulative impact is growing. As of the latest update, roughly $107,000 has been drained, though ZachXBT cautioned that the figure is likely to increase.

At the time of writing, the attacker's point of entry has not been identified, leaving the potential for further exploits open. The attacker has also not been publicly identified, though ZachXBT has flagged a suspicious address: 0xAc2e5153170278e24667a580baEa056ad8Bf9bFB. 

The incident comes amid a broader wave of crypto-related exploits. December saw around 26 major crypto exploits, resulting in total losses of approximately $76 million, according to a Thursday post from Blockchain security firm PeckShield. While still a significant figure, it represents a 60% decline from November's $194.27 million.

Last month's notable security incidents included an exploit of Trust Wallet. During the Christmas holiday last week, Trust Wallet suffered a security incident tied to a specific version of its browser extension, resulting in approximately $7 million in losses. It has since begun its compensation process for affected users.

Addressing recent user concerns, Trust Wallet CEO Eowyn Chen said Thursday that the firm's browser extension was temporarily unavailable on the Chrome Web Store due to a platform-side issue encountered during a version update. The new release includes a feature designed to help reimbursement claimants submit verification codes directly from the extension, allowing Trust Wallet to better verify wallet ownership.