Vitalik Buterin, One Of The Founders Of Ethereum, Experiences Account Theft On Platform X

The X account from Vitalik Buterin, allegedly stolen by hackers. (photo: Twitter @Vitalik Buterin)

JAKARTA - Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, is suspected of having stolen an account on platform X (previously known as Twitter). According to leading blockchain investigator ZachXBT, this incident has resulted in victims losing more than 691,000 US dollars (Rp10.5 billion) collectively after clicking on a malicious link.

On September 9, in an upload on X, Dmitry Buterin, Vitalik's father, announced that his son's account had been hacked. "Please ignore this post, it looks like Vitalik has been hacked. He's trying to regain access," the post read.

The post he intends to have deleted. The post was published on Buterin's account, which claims to celebrate the arrival of "Proto-Danksharding to Ethereum."

Hackers shared malicious links to free warning nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that are thought to be available, luring victims to connect their wallets before finally stealing all their funds.

As a result, this incident caused the developer of Ethereum. Bok Khoo, better known as Bokky Poobah on X, claims that he has suffered losses in his NFT CryptoPunk collection.

Currently, the base price applicable to CryptoPunk NFT is at around 46.99 Ether (ETH), which is equivalent to around 76,837 US dollars (Rp1.1 billion).

ZachXBT has actively notified its 438,200 followers of hacker activity. He recently shared that the most valuable NFT stolen was CryptoPunk #3983, worth 153.62 ETH, equivalent to about US$250,543 (Rp3.8 billion).

A user with the alias Satoshi 767 on X claims that Buterin may not implement sufficient security measures for his X account.

"I don't like being the one to say it, but Vitalik should be responsible for poor security operations and compensate for the losses he suffered," he said, before applying that he believed Buterin's negligence had led to the attack.

"The only way this is not Vitalik's negligence is if someone on X internally hacks his account, or if he is forced directly by criminals who threaten violence. I highly doubt that's what happened. Most likely, this is a SIM swap." added Satoshi 767.

However, ZachXBT challenged the allegations, saying Buterin's high profile made him vulnerable to various forms of hacking attempts.

"You don't know if it's a SIM swap yet. Vitalik is big enough as a target so an insider can be paid or a panel is used," ZachXBT said, as quoted by Cointelegraph.