- Attack on Nobitex by Gonjeshke Darande, $90M loss reported.
- Politically motivated, funds irretrievably burned on-chain.
- Market reactions include suspended trading, regulatory responses.
The incident highlights rising cyberwarfare involving cryptocurrency, causing significant financial and systemic repercussions. Iranian users face access loss, while regional market tensions affect Bitcoin prices.
Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, was targeted by Gonjeshke Darande, losing $90 million. The hackers exhibited political motives, as funds sent to vanity addresses couldn’t be retrieved by any party. This marks their first crypto-specific operation of this scale. Gonjeshke Darande, also known as Predatory Sparrow, is known for attacking Iranian infrastructure. The funds from Nobitex were burned, signifying a political message against Iranian groups.
Impact and Reactions
The attack has resulted in Iranian crypto market instability, affecting liquidity and user trust. Temporary trading suspensions on several exchanges led to difficulties for users looking to access funds or shift assets. The financial impact extended beyond direct losses, with the Central Bank of Iran responding through trading restrictions impacting the broader market.
Market Effects
Iranian exchanges face liquidity issues due to suspended trading and user access concerns. Bitcoin (BTC) prices have declined further amid ongoing regional tensions. Elliptic confirms the burned funds scenario, attributing it to the attack’s political nature.
“But creating vanity addresses with text strings as long as those used in this hack is computationally infeasible. This means that Predatory Sparrow would not have the private keys for the crypto addresses they sent the Nobitex funds to, and have effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message.” – Tom Robinson, Chief Scientist, Elliptic
Previous Targets
Historical targets of Gonjeshke Darande included physical infrastructure; however, this marks a significant digital escalation. Shaurya Malwa highlights that regulatory responses and possible technological countermeasures are expected, as Iran seeks to restore trust and stability post-incident.
