In an unexpected turn of events, Mark Cuban, the renowned billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner, disclosed that he’s the latest casualty in the volatile world of cryptocurrency.
The Background
In a chat with DL News, a clearly surprised Cuban mentioned a suspicious movement in a crypto wallet associated with him. “I noticed 5 ETH went missing after I accessed MetaMask after a long hiatus. Someone was clearly on the prowl,” Cuban shared, referring to the Ethereum he lost which currently stands around $8,175 in market value.
Lmao, did Mark Cuban’s wallet just get drained?
Wallet inactive for 160 days and all assets just moved pic.twitter.com/vWnMZFyHB5
— Wazz (@WazzCrypto) September 15, 2023
Diving Deeper
But that’s not the full story. The saga expands beyond the 5 Ethereum. In total, the entrepreneur saw a setback of roughly $870,000 spread across a spectrum of 10 cryptocurrencies. The list of pilfered assets wasn’t limited to just the mainstream tokens. It spanned across an array of both stablecoins and other notable tokens like Lido staked Ether, SuperRare, and Ethereum Name Service.
As Cuban pieced together the events, he deduced, “It seems I might have inadvertently downloaded a compromised version of MetaMask.” While he was on a quest to find Circle on Google, it’s plausible he stumbled upon a malicious MetaMask gateway. This misstep potentially handed the malefactors a way into his digital vault, gaining access to his private keys or seed phrases, which allowed them to make a clean sweep of his crypto assets.
“I experienced some hitches with MetaMask. Before I could delve deeper, your email pinged. I immediately secured my NFTs on OpenSea and moved all my Polygon assets,” detailed Cuban, illustrating the sequence post the discovery.
Spotting the Irregularities
The entire incident came to light when Wazz, a seasoned blockchain detective, spotted some unusual activity in one of Cuban’s dormant crypto wallets.
Closing Thoughts
The crypto landscape is brimming with opportunities but comes with its fair share of pitfalls. Even seasoned players like Mark Cuban aren’t immune. This incident serves as a potent reminder to tread carefully in the digital currency domain.