Ripple network co-founder Chris Larsen has announced in a post on X that his personal accounts on the Ripple network were the target of an attack that resulted in the loss of XRP tokens valued at over $110 million.
The announcement came a few hours after a pseudonymous on-chain crypto researcher, ZachXBT, posted on X that the Ripple protocol had been hacked, and about 213 million XRP tokens were stolen in the process. According to ZachXBT, the stolen assets were subsequently laundered through various platforms, including Gate, MEXC, Kraken, OKX, HitBTC, Binance, and HTX.
In his announcement, which was in response to this information, Larsen emphasized that the attack wasn’t targeted at the Ripple network, as many individuals had misinterpreted the report, but at some of his personal accounts.
The Ripple co-founder explained that the hack was an isolated incident. He noted that as soon as he observed “unauthorized access” to these accounts, he took immediate action and requested that respective crypto exchanges freeze the impacted accounts. He added that they have informed and involved law enforcement agents in the case.
It appears @Ripple was hacked for ~213M XRP ($112.5M)
Source address
rJNLz3A1qPKfWCtJLPhmMZAfBkutC2QojmSo far the stolen funds have been laundered through MEXC, Gate, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX, HitBTC, etc pic.twitter.com/HKGYsLQeMv
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) January 31, 2024
Chris Larsen’s comment on ZachXBT’s post. Source: X
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also addressed the issue. In a post affirming Larsen’s announcement, He assured the public that the hack had no impact on any user accounts managed by the protocol.
Given some irresponsible speculation and reporting, I want to reiterate that NO Ripple-managed wallets were compromised. Full stop. https://t.co/zxVeCH1Ut0
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 31, 2024
Meanwhile, many members of the crypto community have shared their perspectives on the hack. While some criticized Larsen, others expressed sympathy.
Notably, an X crypto influencer @Stillhasissues voiced concerns and wished for a swift recovery of the funds. On the contrary, another X user, @pretrijaervinen, raised a point about the centralization element of the network’s asset management. The user questioned the project’s decentralization claim if accounts could be frozen that fast.
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