Hackers Target Crypto Gambling Platform: Stake.com Lost $41 Million

The crypto gambling site, Stake.com has become the latest victim of cyber criminals. Around $41 million in cryptocurrencies were siphoned off from the platform in transactions labeled as 'suspicious outflows'.

Stake.com Hacked

Stake confirmed unauthorized transactions from its Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain hot wallets. However, it did not detail any of these suspicious activities.

“Three hours ago, unauthorised tx’s were made from Stake’s ETH/BSC hot wallets,” Stake tweeted.

Three hours ago, unauthorised tx’s were made from Stake’s ETH/BSC hot wallets.We are investigating and will get the wallets up as soon as they’re completely re-secured.User funds are safe.BTC, LTC, XRP, EOS, TRX + all other wallets remain fully operational.

About $41 Million in Crypto Was Drained

According to the on-chain analyst, Cyvers $16 million in cryptocurrencies were drained from the Ethereum network following a “private key leak.” In the first transaction on the Ethereum network, the hackers transferred about $3.9 million in Tether from Stake’s wallet. In the next two transactions, attackers drained 6,001 Ether, valued at almost $9.8 million. The attacker also drained $1 million in USD Coin and $900,000 worth of Dai and 333 Stake Classic.

🚨ALERT🚨Our AI-powered system has detected multiple suspicious transactions with @Stake.https://t.co/0ZoMITOyF5 address received about $16M in $ETH $USDC $USDT and $DAIAll the stable coins are converted to $ETH and distributed to different EOAs.FYI: @tayvano_ @zachxbt pic.twitter.com/CSGwRHEiVm

ZachXBT, another well-known blockchain analyst, highlighted that another $25.6 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen from Stake’s wallets on Polygon and Binance Smart Chain. This brought the total loss to about $41 million.

The attacker then converted all stolen funds to Ether and transferred them to multiple external wallets.

Only a few hours after the attack, Australia-based Stake reinstated its deposits and withdrawals.

All services have resumed! Deposits & withdrawals are processing instantly for all currencies. We apologise for any inconvenience. 🙏

A Major Gambling Establishment

Established in 2017, Stake has grown to be the seventh-largest gambling group. The platform’s popularity skyrocketed due to its support for cryptocurrencies. According to a Financial Times report, it generated $2.6 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2022, which is tremendous growth from $105 million in 2020.

Founded by Australia’s youngest billionaire, Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, Stake operates globally with a significant number of clients from Brazil, Japan, and other countries in Southeast Asia where rules around online gambling are undefined. While its licenses are pending in Australia and Canada, Stake operates non-crypto online gambling operations in the US and the UK and holds traditional gambling licenses in Mexico and Paraguay.

Meanwhile, the menace of cyberattacks on crypto wallets is rampant as platforms of all kinds, from exchanges to wallet providers, are being attacked. Although these attacks dropped 70 percent last year, more than $3.7 billion in cryptocurrencies were lost to hacks and exploits in 2022.