Mark Cuban falls victim to cyber attack; Loses nearly $900K in crypto assets
Billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, lost close to $900,000 in a recent cyber-attack. The event was brought to light yesterday when Wazz, an independent blockchain investigator, noticed irregular activities related to one of Cuban’s wallets.
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Mark Cuban targetted by hackers
Around 8 pm UTC, Wazz highlighted unusual behavior linked to a wallet that Mark Cuban, the former Shark Tank investor, had not touched in approximately five months. The unexpected movements raised concerns, leading the sleuth to investigate further.
Records from Etherscan reveal that in a swift 10-minute span, all of his assets were abruptly taken. Cuban owned ten different crypto assets, including SuperRare (RARE), Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Lido Staked Ether (stETH), and a bag of stablecoins (USDC, USDT). The total loss amounted to nearly $870,000.
Intriguingly, another $2 million in USDC was withdrawn soon after and redirected to a different wallet. This action led Wazz to initially theorize that Cuban might have been merely relocating his assets.
However, this theory was dispelled a few hours later. Speaking to DL News, Cuban confessed he had accessed his MetaMask for the first time in several months. He insinuated that the hacker or group of hackers might have been monitoring his online activities, lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.
NFT collection remains untouched
Cuban expressed, “I was hacked, but I don’t know precisely how.” He then shared that he’d moved any remaining digital assets, including his non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to Coinbase Custody. This move validated that the earlier $2 million USDC transaction was his doing.
As for now, the exact method employed by the hackers remains undisclosed. Cuban’s loss serves as a reminder of the continuous threats present in the digital currency space, even for those considered tech-savvy.
With this incident, Cuban joins a growing list of high-profile figures and entities that have fallen victim to crypto thefts and frauds. It underscores the importance of heightened security measures for anyone dealing with cryptocurrencies.
