There is a new crypto paranoid notion brewing, this time in comparison to last week’s $160 million hack on algorithmic market producer Wintermute. One crypto investigator is claiming that the hack was an inside job, and there is evidence to support this theory. The investigator points to the fact that the hackers had knowledge of the company’s inner workings, which would have been difficult to obtain from the outside.
Additionally, the hackers were able to execute the attack with precision, indicating that they had a good understanding of the company’s systems. This theory is still unproven, but it is causing many people in the crypto community to take notice.
About The Wintermute Hack
On Sep 20, a hacker exploited a bug in the Wintermute smart contract and made off with over 70 different tokens, including $61.4 million in USD Coin (USDC), $29.5 million in Tether (USDT) and 671 Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) worth $13 million. The hack was first reported by DeFi Pulse, a website that tracks activity in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The total value of the stolen tokens was approximately $160 million at the time of the theft. The exploit was made possible by a flaw in the way the Wintermute contract handles token transfers. By taking advantage of this flaw, the hacker was able to initiate multiple token transfers from the contract’s address to their own wallet.
The hack is a reminder of the risks inherent in DeFi protocols, which are often complex and have not been thoroughly audited. However, it is also worth noting that this is not the first time a major hacking incident has occurred in the cryptocurrency space; exchanges have been hacked in the past, and individual investors have also lost funds due to scams and hacks.
The popular Wintermute inside job theory is not convincing enough
As the investigation into the recent Wintermute hack continues, new information has come to light that points to the involvement of an insider. The hack, which saw over $160 million stolen from exchanges, was initially thought to be the work of an external attacker. However, closer examination of the relevant transactions by James Edwards in his medium post suggests that the hacker was likely an internal member of the Wintermute team.
This theory is supported by the fact that the hacker had access to private keys and sensitive information that would not have been available to an outsider. If this is indeed the case, it would represent a serious breach of security on the part of the Wintermute team.
Wintermute Denies Insider Attack Allegations By James Edwards
After reaching out to Wintermute for comment on the matter, the firm vehemently refused these allegations. They claim that the accusations are coming from an unsubstantiated rumor on a Medium page that has factual and technical inaccuracies.
Wintermute insists that they are committed to ethical practices and that they take the concerns of their clients and employees very seriously. They are conducting an internal investigation to ensure that all ethical guidelines are being followed. Until this investigation is complete, Wintermute will not be commenting further on the matter.