What happened?
THORChain co-founder JP lost $1.35 million from his personal wallet due to a sophisticated phishing scam, involving a hacked Telegram account, deepfake Zoom call, and an alleged zero-day exploit. The scam stricken incident is confirmed by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, claiming that JP’s wallet was emptied after being lured to a fake Zoom meeting via Telegram. The stolen funds were part of an old MetaMask account that the victim had forgotten about.
Who does this affect?
The immediate affected party is THORChain co-founder JP who lost a significant amount of assets. However, these kinds of attacks also impact the broader crypto community and investors. Crypto investors have lost $2.2B by the end of June 2025, majorly from wallet breaches and scams. The rising Telegram scams signify a need for users to stay cautious and maintain high-level security measures.
Why does this matter?
Such incidents reflect a pressing concern regarding security in the crypto space. It emphasizes the importance of implementing vigorous security strategies including, not storing private keys on iCloud or Google Drive, using two-factor authentication, and considering threshold signature wallets for added protection. Criminals use advanced techniques like deepfakes and malware, posing a significant risk on the trading platforms and thereby, impacting the market’s overall credibility.