Crypto hacking incidents are becoming increasingly prevalent across all major chains. In fact, in April, crypto exploits reached $635 million, the highest level since February 2025.
Once again, attackers have dealt a major blow to the market by exploiting Ethereum mainnet addresses.
Dormant Ethereum Wallets Mined for $800,000
On April 30, hundreds of wallets inactive for more than seven years were emptied at the same address.
The attackers drained approximately $800,000 from these dormant wallets by directly accessing the private keys. Most of these funds were exchanged through THORChain for Bitcoin, while others were routed to other chains.
On-chain investigator Specter observed that the attacker linked 324,741 ETH worth $734,000 to the Bitcoin network. Still, around $66,000 worth of assets remained in the EVM wallets.
According to MastrXYZ, a wallet labeled by Etherscan as Fake_Phishing2831105 received these funds from multiple addresses. The wallet then moved them through swaps and cross-chain infrastructure.
MastrXYZ highlighted old leaks from weak software or breaches such as the LastPass incident of 2022. Unlike recent DeFi exploits, no new approvals, contracts, or signings were involved.
Old Crypto Wallets Are a Major Vulnerability
As the broader crypto market becomes increasingly prone to attacks, legacy wallets are at higher risk. These wallets largely lack modern security features and standards, putting them on par with the evolving capabilities of attackers.
In fact, many crypto users used weak random generators to create wallets, which primarily produced low entropy keys.
With advancements in blockchain technology, hackers have kept pace, using advanced tools to exploit vulnerabilities. Thus, old dormant crypto wallets remain vulnerable to attacks because inactivity has weakened them.
ETH remains stable despite the incident
When KelpDAO was exploited, it started a chain of losses in the LayerZero and Aave protocols. The total value of DeFi has dropped significantly, to $83 billion, as reported by AMBCrypto.
However, despite the attack on legacy Ethereum wallets, the market remained calm, mainly because the Ethereum chain was not attacked.
The network’s consensus mechanism remained secure, with the infrastructure remaining intact. As a result, Ethereum (ETH) prices barely moved.
On the contrary, ETH gained slightly, rising to $2,285, although the altcoin continued to oscillate between $2.2k and $2.3k. The stability of the market, despite the security incident, promotes a better understanding of the market among all participants.
Final Summary
- Hundreds of inactive wallets were emptied of around $800,000 after attackers gained access to their private keys.
- ETH remained stable, barely moving despite the incident, and continued to trade between $2.2k and $2.3k.
