The radio silence from Atomic Wallet increases investor frustrations.
An unexpected exploit has caused monumental losses to the users of Atomic Wallet, a decentralized wallet reputed for its noncustodial nature, as a consequence, their trust has been seriously undermined.
On June 13th, a blockchain analysis firm Elliptic assessed the losses linked to this incident, which have now alarmingly skyrocketed to more than $100 million. The magnitude of this exploit is further emphasized by the estimated 5,500 cryptocurrency wallets that have been compromised.
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Atomic Wallet admitted the existence of compromised wallets on June 3rd via a tweet, though it tried to minimize the extent by asserting that "less than 1%" of its users were affected. However, the staggering total value of lost assets paints a very different picture, pointing toward a significant security breach.
According to Elliptic, this shocking theft is connected to the infamous Lazarus Group, which has reportedly been responsible for the theft of over $2 billion in digital assets. This is reportedly the first time that such a sizeable digital theft has been attributed to the Lazarus Group since it exploited Horizon Bridge for $100 million a year ago.
Since June 3rd, Atomic Wallet remained silent on the root cause of the devastating losses, intensifying the worry and frustrations of its users, which are evident on Twitter.
Atomic Wallet users expressed their discontentment and angst, seeking answers from the company that should have protected their assets. For instance, user Ezra Carlson asked why Atomic Wallet didn't provide a prior warning about the hack, while another user dubbed "Real Deal Crypto" criticized the company's silence and lack of updates.
In the aftermath of this incident, Elliptic disclosed its collaboration with international investigators and crypto exchanges and the utilization of its resources to recover the stolen assets. So far, this endeavor has allegedly led to the freezing of over $1 million of the stolen funds.
This breach is the latest in a series of notable exploits, joining the ranks of recent attacks on Jimbos Protocol, which lost $7.5 million, and a malicious proposal that overpowered Tornado Cash's governance in May.
