Crypto Hedge Fund BlockTower Capital Faces Major Hack
Highlights
- Crypto hedge fund BlockTower reportedly lost part of its $1.7 billion in AUM.
- BlockTower has employed blockchain forensics to identify the nature of the theft.
- Crypto hacks have increased in recent times amid growing retail and institutional participation.
BlockTower, one of the major cryptocurrency hedge funds has suffered a major hack recently as fraudsters managed to partially drain from its total AUM. Sources familiar with the matter reported this incident while refusing to discuss further sensitive information. As per data provided by PitchBook, BlockTower has more than $1.7 billion in assets under management.
BlockTower Takes Corrective Measures
Currently, the hacker has absconded with the hedge fund yet to recover its lost money. However, BlockTower has employed blockchain forensics analysts in order to find the nature of the theft. They have also informed all their key partners about the recent heist, reported Bloomberg. However, the crypto hedge fund has yet to release any official statement regarding this matter.
Established in 2017, BlockTower operates from its offices in Miami and New York. The company has made strategic investments in various ventures, such as nonfungible token developer Dapper Labs, gaming studio Sky Mavis, and Terraform Labs, the creator of the TerraUSD stablecoin. Notably, BlockTower successfully raised a $150 million venture fund in 2022.
This is not the first time that crypto hedge fund BlockTower has been facing a setback. Last year in 2023, the country had to shut down its “market-neutral” crypto fund, which handled over $100 million, after the investment opportunities for the funds’ strategy dried up.
Rising Number of Crypto Hacks
There’s been a rising number of crypto hacking incidents reportedly recently in the market. The notorious Lazarus Group from North Korea has been behind most of the hacks by using crypto-mixing platforms like Tornado Cash.
Last week itself, a scammer stole more than $71 million worth of $WBTC coins, however, later returned the same.
The cryptocurrency community suffered a major setback when the prominent exchange “Rain,” based in Bahrain, fell victim to a severe hack on April 29, 2024. This breach led to the loss of $14.8 million in BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP.
The hack was brought to the attention by blockchain expert ZachXBT, who identified suspicious activity hinting at a looming security threat to Rain’s platform.
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