Several personal XRP accounts belonging to Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen were hacked recently, resulting in the theft of around $112 million worth of the cryptocurrency.
Key details on the Ripple hack:
- Over 213 million XRP tokens were stolen from Larsen’s accounts, currently valued at $112.5 million.
- The stolen funds were quickly laundered through various exchanges like MEXC, Gate.io, and Binance.
- Larsen confirmed the hack on X, stating that law enforcement was engaged.
- The price of XRP declined by over 5% after initial reports of the hack circulated.
Official Ripple account remains unaffected
While Ripple’s official account was not directly implicated, the attack targeted co-founder Chris Larsen’s personal holdings of XRP.
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Larsen took to X to address the hack, writing that “there was unauthorized access to a few of my personal XRP accounts (not Ripple)—we were quickly able to catch the problem and notify exchanges to freeze the affected addresses. Law enforcement is already involved.”
On-chain sleuth ZachXBT first flagged the initial hack of Larsen’s wallet, identifying over 213 million XRP drained from his accounts. Additionally, the stolen crypto haul was worth around $112.5 million at the time of the transfer.
The perpetrators of the attack subsequently scrambled to launder the stolen XRP using an array of exchanges, sending it through marketplaces like MEXC, Gate.io, Kraken, and Binance in an effort to cover their tracks. Several exchanges have agreed to freeze the hacked funds in response to requests from Larsen’s team and authorities.
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Markets reacted negatively to emerging reports of the Ripple hack, with prices for XRP declining over 5% in the hours after the news broke. In addition, the token’s value fell from $0.53 to around $0.49. CoinMarketCap data shows XRP is trading at $0.50 at press time.
Law enforcement is actively investigating the breach and tracing the stolen funds. The hack also provides another startling reminder of the lingering security risks in blockchain systems.
