Key Insights
- The Fantom Foundation experienced a cryptocurrency hack resulting in over $550,000 in losses.
- Initially reported as a $7 million heist, it was later clarified that most of the stolen funds did not belong to the foundation but to other users.
- Security experts are investigating the breach, which involved funds being sent to scam accounts, suggesting a compromised private key.
Fantom Foundation, the brains behind the innovative Fantom network, has fallen victim to a cryptocurrency heist that has left them reeling with a loss exceeding $550,000.
The incident came to light when the foundation officially confirmed the breach, asserting that the lion’s share of the stolen digital assets actually belonged to other users, leaving about 99% of their own funds untouched. The situation is currently under intense investigation as the team races to unravel the intricacies of this cyberattack.
— Fantom Foundation (@FantomFDN) October 17, 2023
Not all stolen funds belonged to Fantom Foundation
Initially, blockchain security experts had reported the theft to be around $7 million, instigating shockwaves throughout the crypto community. However, the Fantom Foundation promptly released an official statement clarifying the situation.
It revealed that certain wallets, initially categorized as “Fantom: Foundation wallet,” had been mislabeled by block explorers.
Consequently, not all of the pilfered assets could be attributed to the foundation itself.
total attacker profit (may not all necessarily be from fantom or related wallets) seems to be ~$6.7m pic.twitter.com/0rkDHULsdI
— Spreek (@spreekaway) October 17, 2023
As per the foundation’s explanation, a number of these wallets were originally associated with the foundation but had since been reassigned to a Fantom employee, no longer serving as custodians of company funds.
The ongoing investigation aims to shed light on the modus operandi behind this breach.
It’s important to note that the Fantom Foundation is the driving force behind the Fantom network, a smart contract platform compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This network boasts an impressive portfolio with more than $45 million locked within its contracts, a tidbit gleaned from DefiLlama.
Notably, this attack was directed at the foundation and various users of Fantom wallets, rather than posing a threat to the Fantom network itself.
Blockchain security experts confirmed Fantom Foundation hack
The incident first surfaced on October 17 when blockchain sleuth, Spreek, reported on it, citing sources from Telegram. Although they tentatively labeled it as an “alleged” attack, they subsequently listed the affected wallets and calculated potential losses at $6.7 million. However, they also speculated that the drained funds could have encompassed resources from sources unconnected to the Fantom Foundation.
This grim episode received additional validation from CertiK, a blockchain security platform, which corroborated the foundation’s hack. Initially estimating losses at around $657,000, they later revised their calculations to reflect a more staggering sum of approximately $7 million. A closer examination of the blockchain data revealed a distressing trail.
An account tagged as “Fantom Foundation Wallet 1,” as per Etherscan, transferred over 2,000 CVX, 1,000 Dai, 4,500 USD Coin, and other tokens to an account designated as “Fake_Phishing188024.” Furthermore, another account, identified as “Fantom Foundation Wallet 20” by the Fantom network block explorer, dispatched over 1 million FTM to an account named “Fake_Phishing32.”
These transactions, where funds ended up in known scam accounts, strongly indicate the illicit acquisition of the team’s private key, further complicating the situation.