On Thursday, hackers drained more than $4 million from the public crypto wallet of Mask Network founder Suji Yan. The 29-year-old entrepreneur said they had attended a birthday party where they briefly left their phone unattended, potentially enabling the hacker to gain access to the wallet.
“I was in a private gathering with [a] dozen friends, and my phone was away for some minutes when using the restroom,” Yan said on social media. “I trust my friends but this is a nightmare to anyone.”
According to blockchain security firm Cyvers, hackers distributed the funds across six different wallet addresses after converting Yan’s cryptocurrency into Ether-linked tokens.
The high-profile hack caused Mask Network’s share price to plummet to $2.23 on Thursday, representing a drop of more than 7% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
The hack follows last week’s $1.5 billion Bybit hack — the largest crypto hack in history — which severely tested crypto markets and renewed calls for a rollback of the Ethereum blockchain network. On Wednesday, the FBI assigned culpability for the hack to North Korean state-backed actors.
Hacks are common in the crypto industry, which has experienced frequent security breaches and thefts — from North Korean hackers to unscrupulous individuals — since the creation of digital assets. This year, crypto crime is projected to surpass $51 billion, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
“Crypto crime isn’t just growing — it’s fundamentally transforming,” Chainalysis said. “What once revolved primarily around cybercrime has expanded into a vast, sophisticated illicit economy deeply intertwined with national security, geopolitical conflicts, and transnational criminal enterprises engaged in drug, human, and wildlife trafficking, as well as violent crime.”
