Pro-Israel hackers stole Iranian cryptocurrency but lost the potential profit themselves.
The theft of Iranian cryptocurrency appears to be one of the most pointless operations by pro-Israel hackers. However, some analysts suggest this might have been a purely political move, not intended for financial gain. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Doge were reportedly stolen from digital wallets on Iran`s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, which foreign media reports link to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to cryptocurrency tracking firms like Elliptic, the stolen funds were sent to addresses displaying anti-Iran messages that mentioned the IRGC.
Both Elliptic and TRM Labs, another crypto tracking company, stated that the funds were transferred to wallets to which they had no access. This means the hackers essentially discarded the stolen assets into cyberspace.
«Predatory Sparrow did not possess the private keys for the crypto addresses where they sent the Nobitex funds, effectively burning the funds to send a political message to Nobitex,» Elliptic said in a press release.
The pro-Israel hacking group Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility for the cyberattack and threatened to release the exchange`s source code, although this has not happened yet. Predatory Sparrow also stated that they conducted a separate cyberattack this week on Iran`s state-owned Sepah Bank, adding that members of the IRGC used this bank`s services.
Meanwhile, President Trump stated on Wednesday that his patience with Iran «has run out.» He declined to say whether he had decided on U.S. military intervention in the Israeli-Iranian conflict.
Iran`s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had previously warned that any U.S. intervention would result in «irreparable damage.»
