Crypto Caper: The Thief Who Dared to Troll and Trade!

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Ah, the audacity of our modern-day brigand! The nefarious thief, who orchestrated a grand exploit upon the hallowed halls of Coinbase, has taken to the art of swapping their ill-gotten gains with the flair of a seasoned connoisseur. 🎩💰

On a rather unremarkable Wednesday, the illustrious ZachXBT, a pseudonymous sleuth of the blockchain, took to Telegram to unveil the shocking revelation that our crafty exploiter had exchanged a staggering $42.5 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) for Ethereum (ETH) through the decentralized liquidity protocol THORChain (RUNE). One can only imagine the glee with which they executed this digital sleight of hand! 🕵️‍♂️✨

But wait, dear reader! The thief, in a display of sheer bravado, decided to troll our dear ZachXBT with a cheeky on-chain message proclaiming “L bozo,” accompanied by a link to a rather amusing YouTube video featuring the former NBA star James Worthy puffing on a cigar. Truly, a masterclass in mockery! 😂

As if that were not enough, this audacious rogue later swapped 8,697 ETH for a cool 22 million of the stablecoin Dai (DAI), as reported by the ever-watchful blockchain security firm, PeckShield. One must admire the thief’s taste in financial instruments! 💸

PeckShield further divulged that another address, which is “highly relevant to the threat actor,” received a delightful 9,081 ETH from THORChain, only to swap that ETH for a staggering 23 million DAI. It appears our thief has a penchant for the dramatic! 🎭

In a twist worthy of a Shakespearean play, Coinbase revealed that a band of criminals had bribed a select few overseas customer support agents to pilfer the data of less than 1% of the firm’s monthly transacting users. A recent filing with the Maine Attorney General’s Office indicates that this breach has impacted a staggering 69,461 souls. How utterly tragic! 😱

The exchange, in its infinite wisdom, disclosed that the hacked information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, masked social security numbers (the last four digits only, of course), masked bank-account numbers, some bank account identifiers, government-ID images, account data, and a smattering of corporate data. A veritable cornucopia of personal information! 📜

Coinbase, upon discovering this dastardly hack, received an email demanding a $20 million BTC ransom in exchange for not releasing the illegally obtained information. The company, displaying commendable fortitude, refused to yield to the demands of these digital marauders and estimates it will incur costs ranging from $180 million to $400 million in remediation and voluntary customer reimbursements. A costly affair, indeed! 💔

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2025-05-23 22:03