A new detail has emerged in the Ripple hack saga. Hacken, a blockchain security auditor, has found that two wallets that played a key role in the incident have connections to XRP’s authorized wallet. The crypto community was stunned on January 31, 2024, when news broke of a breach at XRP, alleging the theft of 213 million XRP tokens worth over $100 million. Blockchain investigator Zachxbt was the first to break the news.
But Ripple’s top executives clarified that all users’ wallets are secure and were never compromised, even though they acknowledged that unauthorized access did occur in one of the personal XRP accounts. However, as per Hacken’s new analysis, the so-called attempted breach lasted for about 11 hours and 11 minutes, a duration deemed unusual for typical breach patterns.
After meticulously tracing the journey of both inbound and outbound transactions, Hacken experts claimed that funds from the compromised wallet were initially transferred to eight different wallets, eventually making their way into CEX accounts. Amidst this data, a transaction worth $64 million stood out.
The investigation led by Dmytro Yasmanovych revealed that the new address involved in the $64 million transaction is directly linked with the XRP pack of addresses and had some outgoing and incoming transactions between them. Notably, it also engages with wallets tied to the transfer of stolen funds.
What adds another layer to the analysis is that a significant portion of the stolen funds were traced to various exchange addresses. Among the exchange addresses, one from Kraken draws attention, allegedly used to funnel out the funds. Analyzing the next wallet with longstanding ties with XRP, predating the incident, one can view the interactions with the same Kraken wallet in 2020, Hacken stated.
Ripple Seeks More Time
Hacken’s findings unveil an intricate web of transactions, with some tracing back to XRP. While it’s premature to draw definitive conclusions, the narrative is evolving and becoming more intriguing. Ripple has not commented as of press time.
The blockchain firm, currently embroiled in a three-year legal battle with the SEC, is requesting an extension for remedies-related discovery. The initial deadline of February 12, 2024, is now being proposed to be extended to February 20, 2024. The high-profile litigation has turned up the heat on Ripple following the court’s approval of the SEC’s motion, compelling Ripple to furnish additional information.