Israel-Iran Conflict Expanding into the Virtual Asset Market? Iran's Largest Exchange Hacked

Iran's largest virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange has reportedly fallen victim to a hacking incident. Additionally, the hacker group has warned of further attacks.

On the 18th (local time), SlowMist announced via X (formerly Twitter) that "Iran's virtual asset exchange Nobitex suffered a hacking loss of $81.7 million," adding, "The funds were transferred to a TRON (TRX) wallet."

In particular, the hacker drew attention by using a vanity address. A vanity address is a virtual asset wallet address generated to include specific characters or phrases, used to reveal a particular message.

The hacker’s attacker's address is 'TKFuckiRGCTerroristsNoBiTEXy2r7mNX'. This appears to contain an insult toward the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Nobitex, accusing them of being terrorists.

Furthermore, the hacker group has announced plans for further attacks. Gonjeshke Darande, the organization reportedly responsible for this hack, stated: "The Nobitex exchange is being used as a means for the Iranian regime to finance terrorism and evade international sanctions. Moreover, they are guiding users on how to bypass sanctions," and added, "Within 24 hours, we plan to disclose all of Nobitex’s source code and internal network information."

They further stated, "Assets remaining in Nobitex will continue to face hacking threats in the future," and urged, "All users should initiate immediate withdrawals."

Nobitex also released a statement. Nobitex said, "We have detected signs of unauthorized access to some hot wallets," and added, "We plan to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances and scope of the incident." They continued, "Until the investigation is complete, both website and app access will be temporarily suspended," and assured, "All user losses will be fully compensated."

Meanwhile, Gonjeshke Darande also attacked Bank Sepah, a subsidiary of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the previous day. They specified that Sepah Bank has also supported nuclear programs and terrorist financing.