In what seems to be one of the most significant security breaches in online gambling history, Stake.com, an Australian-based sports betting and crypto casino service provider, has reportedly suffered a massive hack, with approximately $41.3 million siphoned off its platform.
The news broke out on September 4, 2023, and it has sent shockwaves across the cryptocurrency gaming industry.
The company has confirmed the exploit and stated that the funds were drained from one of their hot wallets. However, they assured their customers that their funds are safe.
Stake.com's affected wallets
Notably, the casinos's Bitcoin, Litecoin, and XRP wallets were unaffected by the breach. As of now, the platform has not disclosed the exact cause of the exploit or the precise amount that was stolen.
The hacker's account has been labeled as "Stake.com Hacker" by Etherscan, an Ethereum blockchain explorer, leading to speculations that the theft might have resulted from a compromise of private keys. Despite this, the casino has resumed operations after the incident of all its services at 9:28 pm UTC on the same day.
Blockchain security firm Beosin has estimated the total loss from the breach to be around $41.35 million. This figure includes $15.7 million from Ethereum, $7.8 million from Polygon, and a staggering $17.8 million from the BNB Smart Chain.
Another blockchain security firm, PeckShield, had initially estimated the loss to be $15.7 million but did not account for the funds allegedly lost on BSC and Polygon.
The breach began with a transaction at 12:48 pm UTC, where approximately $3.9 million worth of the stablecoin Tether was transferred from Stake to the attacker's account.
Subsequent transactions saw over 6,000 ETH, valued at roughly $9.8 million, being moved. The attacker also removed tokens, including about $1 million in USD Coin, $900,000 in Dai, and a smaller amount in Stake Classic (STAKE).
Interestingly, Stake.com has a strong celebrity backing, including Drake, the globally recognized Canadian rapper. The platform's association with high-profile personalities underscores its prominence in the crypto gaming world.
This incident adds to the growing list of crypto-related hacks, with over $3.7 billion worth of crypto reported lost to various exploits in the last year alone.
