Blockchain payment firm Ripple has recently experienced a significant security breach, resulting in the loss of a substantial amount of XRP.
The hack, uncovered by decentralized finance (DeFi) detective ZachXBT, has raised serious concerns about the protocol’s security and triggered a series of illicit transactions involving the stolen XRP.
XRP Hack Rocks Ripple
According to investigations, the hack led to the theft of over 213 million XRP, valued at over $112 million. The stolen funds were subsequently laundered through cryptocurrency exchanges, including MEXC, Gate, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX, HitBTC, and several undisclosed platforms.
As seen in the image below, the criminals behind the security breach conducted eight transactions to different addresses, as revealed by the blockchain.
XRP Price Dips Further After Hack
Following the security breach, XRP’s price plummeted to $0.5070 and continued to decline further, hitting a low of $0.4860 on Wednesday.
The hack news intensified the token’s downward trend, which has already experienced a 19% decline over the past 30 days and a 4% decline in the past 24 hours.
The next steps that Ripple will take to address the security breach remain uncertain. The company’s response to the situation and measures to fortify its security infrastructure will be closely monitored.
Update: Following the rumors, Ripple executives have clarified the matter, stating that the compromised wallets belonged to the company’s co-founder Chris Larsen. Brad Garlinghouse also weighed in to provide further clarity, stating:
Given some irresponsible speculation and reporting, I want to reiterate that NO Ripple-managed wallets were compromised. Full stop.
As seen on the 1-day chart of XRP, the next major support for the token is placed at the $0.4876 level, which prevented a further decline after the news was released. If this level fails to hold a potential continuation of the downtrend, the next support for the token is placed at $0.4686.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com