MetaMask has refuted reports that the popular browser-based wallet was compromised in a large-scale “wallet-draining operation” resulting in the loss of over 5,000 Ethereum (ETH).
Reports of the exploit emerged after Taylor Monahan, a MetaMask developer and founder of MyCrypto, posted on Twitter the loss of $10.5 million in crypto and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) since December 2022.
However, MetaMask has vehemently denied the allegations through a series of tweets, asserting that their platform has not been exploited in any way.
According to MetaMask, the funds were drained from various addresses across 11 blockchains, and the company denied that their wallet was compromised in any way.
MetaMask Investigating Source of Exploit
In a series of tweets, the wallet provider confirmed that they were working with others in the Web3 space to determine the exploit’s root cause.
While the exact method of the exploit remains uncertain, Monahan speculated that the attacker may have accessed a vast amount of old data used to steal the funds.
Initially, she alleged that the attacker targeted long-time MetaMask users and employees by exploiting a vulnerability in the MetaMask platform. However, Monahan later clarified that the exploit is not specific to MetaMask and that users of all wallets – including those created on a hardware wallet – had been affected.
The cryptocurrency industry has seen its fair share of hacks, rugpulls, and various exploits. Unfortunately, 2023 has proven to be a challenging year for several DeFi protocols, including Euler Finance, Ronin Network, Nomad Bridge, Wormhole Bridge, Terraport Finance, and SushiSwap.
All of these platforms have suffered significant losses due to various exploits, contributing to the growing list of incidents in the industry.
