A Solana whale tied to the network's genesis block allocation has been drained of 180,900 SOL, worth roughly $14.2 million. Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT disclosed the incident and published the victim's wallet alongside five hacker-controlled addresses on Solana and Ethereum.
Unstaking Anomaly Detected by Security Researcher
Security researcher @specterinvestigation first flagged unusual activity from the whale's wallet (HwtbQBNnLERakdUDuCCLWmUs2oETLFQZeHUWeQdPads). Large amounts of SOL were unstaked and quickly bridged to Ethereum. ZachXBT joined the investigation, publicly sharing the addresses to help exchanges and stablecoin issuers freeze the stolen funds.
Weak Private Key Hygiene Haunts Long-Term Holders
The attack underscores a persistent risk: even whales who have held tokens for years can lose everything if private keys or devices are compromised. While the hacker is moving funds through multiple intermediate wallets to obfuscate the trail, the crypto community is watching whether centralized gatekeepers can intercept the loot before it fully launders into DeFi protocols or off-ramps.