Over $90 million stolen from Iran’s Nobitex Exchange burned by Pro-Israel Hacker Group

After violating Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, pro-Israel hacker group Gonjeshke Darande claimed it had destroyed more than $90 million in digital assets it acquired from Nobitex’s wallet.

In a June 18 update via X, the group said it used “Vanity addresses” that contain a recoverable private key to burn funds across multiple blockchains, making assets inaccessible forever.

This follows Nobitex’s famous exploit, where over $90 million of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (Doge), and other tokens have been ejected from the hot wallet. The attackers originally framed violations as a direct response to Novitex’s alleged role in helping the Iranian regime avoid sanctions and fund terrorism.

The group, also known as predatory sparrows, hacked on ongoing military and cyber tensions between Iran and Israel, and was bolstered following Israeli airstrikes at Tehran’s nuclear sites a few days ago. Blockchain security platforms like Chainalysis have quickly confirmed that stolen assets have not been transferred to mixers or exchanges, but to irreparable addresses using inflammatory labels.

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The address contained phrases such as “Fuckirgcterroristsnobitex,” targeting Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard. One of the bitcoin wallets used in the attack cannot prove that they have no lawmakers due to their invalid checksum. In Ethereum, tokens were sent to the address of “0x…dead” burns, commonly used to permanently retire the supply.

In response, Nobitex issued a new statement acknowledging the burn. The exchange says that user assets are safe in cold storage and the situation is currently under control. Nobitex revealed that as a precaution, its staff also emptied their hot wallets. We repeated that our client funds were not lost, citing the reserve fund and insurance pool.

The attackers are also threatening to release Nobitex source code and internal infrastructure data. Nobitex could exacerbate the situation on Iran’s leading cryptocurrency platform, with over 11 million users. Gonjeshke Darande warned that if users do not withdraw immediately, the assets remaining on the platform will be at risk.

There is no economic motivation, but the hack has a widespread meaning. The intentional destruction of more than $90 million in digital currency shows how state-level conflicts have transformed crypto infrastructure into a new battlefield.

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