A crypto whale has lost more than $282 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) after falling victim to a hardware wallet social engineering scam, making it one of the largest personal crypto thefts ever reported.
According to ZackXBT, the incident occurred on January 10, 2026, at approximately 11 PM UTC, when scammers tricked the victim into approving fake transactions. Although the funds were stored in a hardware wallet, the attackers used psychological manipulation to gain access.
Hackers Swap Stolen Bitcoin and Litecoin Into Monero
After stealing the funds, the attackers quickly began converting large amounts of Bitcoin and Litecoin into Monero (XMR) using instant crypto exchange platforms.
Because Monero has lower trading volume than Bitcoin, these large swaps pushed Monero’s price up by more than 60% in a short time.
In addition to swapping into Monero, the attacker also moved Bitcoin across different blockchains using THORChain, a decentralized cross-chain protocol. BTC was bridged to the Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin networks.
THORChain has increasingly become a preferred tool for laundering stolen crypto because it is permissionless and does not require KYC, making it easier for criminals to move funds without identity checks.
According to ZachXBT, the attackers swapped:
Once the stolen assets are converted into Monero, tracing them becomes virtually impossible. Monero’s built-in privacy features hide transaction details, making it extremely difficult for investigators to follow the money trail. This case highlights how advanced laundering methods are now being used after major crypto scams, making recovery of stolen funds far more challenging.
ZachXBT identified three main wallet addresses connected to the theft, which received a combined total of 1,459 BTC and 2.05 million LTC, confirming the massive scale of the scam.
Theft Addresses:
The wallets include two Bitcoin addresses and one Litecoin address that were directly linked to the stolen funds.
Investigators believe the attackers have not finished moving the stolen money yet.
A large part of the Bitcoin is currently sitting in a wallet believed to be controlled by the scammers. This suggests they may be waiting for public attention to fade before moving the funds again.
ZachXBT said this case is even larger than the $243 million crypto scams he investigated in 2024, making it one of the biggest personal wallet thefts in crypto history.
Unlike exchange hacks, this attack shows a dangerous trend where criminals target individuals directly instead of platforms.
This scam did not involve hacking software or breaking security systems. Instead, criminals used social engineering, tricking the victim unknowingly.
Never act on urgency, verify requests independently, ignore unsolicited messages, and review wallet transactions carefully before signing.
2FA helps accounts, not wallets. Hardware wallets still require user approval, so awareness and verification matter more than extra logins.
Stop interacting, move remaining funds to a new wallet, revoke permissions, and document all transaction details right away.
Recovery is rare, but reporting quickly can help flag wallets, alert exchanges, and prevent further laundering.
Use cold storage, separate wallets for testing, avoid public wallet exposure, and never sign transactions you don’t fully understand.
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