Last week in the world of crypto, the world has unmasked significant scams and hacks happening across the industry, with one of the top issues centering on SEC's X account that hackers accessed. It revealed massive information regarding the federal agency's plans, one that involves the approval of Bitcoin ETFs that were revealed earlier than they intended to.
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There was also the exposure of HyperVerse and its Fake CEO, centering on the scam it did against investors, following the Lazarus group's recent Bitcoin theft.
SEC's X Account was Hacked, Revealed Bitcoin ETFs
Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) faced a massive security breach on their X account, and hackers were able to gain significant access that revealed an upcoming decision it was supposed to reveal later. The SEC then raised this issue against X and Elon Musk, the owner of the rebranded Twitter social media platform, now facing scrutiny from the regulatory agency.
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During the hack, the threat actors revealed an important decision of the agency regarding its approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) but was considered fake news as it was not an official statement.
This led to the price of Bitcoin rallying to as much as $48,000, but dropped to $45,000 when the SEC confirmed that hackers shared this information. It was revealed by SEC Chair Gary Gensler that there are no decisions yet regarding Bitcoin ETFs.
A YouTuber was able to dig deep and expose a massive ruse from the company known as HyperVerse, revealing that its CEO, Steven Reece Lewis, is a fake one and is played by an actor. It was also revealed that this actor is Stephen Harrison, an English actor living in Thailand, who accepted a gig to pose as a "presenter talent" for the said business.
Harrison revealed to The Guardian that he was surprised that his likeness was used as part of the scam and that the fake information regarding his credentials was also alarming for him.
The actor also further expressed his remorse for the defrauded investors and victims of HyperVerse's scam, known for its crypto-mining operations that promised double to triple in returns.
Lazarus Group Stole $1.2M Bitcoin via Coin Mixer
The renowned North Korea-based and government-backed hacking group, Lazarus, strikes again, and this time, it used Coin Mixer to steal as much as $1.2 million worth of Bitcoin, in over a month. It was revealed by a report that the Lazarus Group's wallet received as much as 27.371 BTC in this hack, having two transactions to move the money around.
This coin mixer is also known as a tumbler, a blockchain-based protocol employed to obscure the ownership of the coins, says CoinDesk.
In this type of theft, cryptocurrencies are mixing the stolen coins from different users, and it results in a complex web of transactions that will make it hard to trace its recipients.
