AiXBT Agent Compromised, Suffers 55.50 ETH Loss Amid 16% Token Drop
AiXBT, a prominent AI-powered cryptocurrency market analyst, experienced a security breach on March 18, resulting in the theft of 55.50 ETH, valued at approximately $104,000.
An intruder deceived AiXBT’s AI agent into executing the transfer by infiltrating the autonomous system dashboard and queuing harmful replies. The stolen funds were transferred from AiXBT’s Simulacrum wallet, a system designed to facilitate on-chain transactions through social media interactions. The hacker operated under a now-deleted X account known as “FungusMan.”
rxbt, the pseudonymous developer behind AiXBT, verified the breach, noting that at 2 AM UTC, a hacker had accessed a secure dashboard for AiXBT Agent’s autonomous system. The hacker then queued two malicious replies, which resulted in the loss of 55 ETH from a Simulacrum wallet.
He emphasized that the exploit did not jeopardize AiXBT’s core systems and was not due to any failure of the AI itself, as preventive measures were in place.
https://twitter.com/0rxbt/status/1901992776436441176?s=46&t=nznXkss3debX8JIhNzHmzw
In response to rxbt’s announcement, AiXBT acknowledged the breach, stating, “Simu wallet was compromised, but core systems remain unaffected. If you’re trading AIXBT, this doesn’t alter the fundamentals. Expect enhanced security post server migration.”
The team acted swiftly following the breach, reporting the hacker’s address to centralized exchanges, changing access keys, and migrating servers. Despite these reassurances, AiXBT’s Base token experienced a significant decline, dropping nearly 20% within 24 hours to $0.0938. AiXBT’s market capitalization stood at $82.4 million at the time of reporting, down from a peak of $755 million in mid-January, according to CoinGecko data.
This incident has raised concerns regarding security vulnerabilities in AI-driven trading platforms, even as the financial loss constitutes only a small fraction of AiXBT’s overall market capitalization.
Operating on the Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), AIXBT is an AI-driven market commentator. Its real-time cryptocurrency trend insights have led to a surge in popularity since its launch late last year, amassing a following of nearly half a million on X. Holding AiXBT tokens provides traders access to the AiXBT Terminal, which offers market data and sentiment analysis.