Iranian crypto exchange is the victim of a 100 million USD hacks
The Iranian crypto exchange Nobitex was the victim of a massive cyber attack in which an estimated $ 100 million was stolen into cryptocurrencies.
The pro-Israeli hacker group Gonjeshke (also known as “Predatory Sparrow”) took responsibility for the attack and explained that the stolen funds were transferred to so-called “burner addresses” in order to permanently remove them. This measure indicates that the hack was politically motivated and did not aim at financial profit, such as CNN reported.
Political motifs behind the attack
The hacker group stated that Nobitex serves as an important instrument for the Iranian government to circumvent international sanctions and to finance activities that are classified as terroristically. The stolen cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, were transferred to addresses that contain publicly visible messages such as “F*CkirgcTerrorists”, which underlines the political intention of the attack.
As a result of the attack, the hacker group published the full source code of the Nobitex platform, which further opened the security gaps and endangered the remaining user funds. Nobitex reacted by temporarily taking its website and app offline and assured that customer funds were protected by an internal reserve fund system. Cvj.ch could not verify this independently.
Effects on Iran and global crypto community
The incident not only shaken the crypto community, but also led to nationwide internet and telephone blocks because the Iranian government tried to ward off further cyber attacks. In this attack, analysts see another step in the escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel. Events highlight the increasing importance of cyber operations in geopolitical arguments and the vulnerability of critical infrastructures in the digital age.
The attack on Nobitex shows an example of how cryptocurrencies are increasingly targeting geopolitical conflicts. While digital assets originally stood for decentralization and independence, they are becoming increasingly common today as strategic means in Cyber wars used. The political message of the hacker group and the targeted destruction of assets signal a new era in which financial infrastructure is used as an attack goal to economically weaken and intensify international tensions.
