Shocking Heist: $70 Million Vanishes from UPCX Like a Magician's Trick!

Update April 1, 1:42 pm UTC: This article has been updated to include the musings of Cyvers’ own Meir Dolev, who, one might say, has a flair for the dramatic.

In a twist worthy of a Dostoevskian plot, an unauthorized party has whisked away approximately $70 million in digital assets from the open-source payment platform UPCX, as revealed by a security alert that dropped like a bombshell on April 1. No, this is not an elaborate April Fool’s joke—though one might wish it were!

The blockchain security firm Cyvers, with all the gravitas of a somber oracle, flagged suspicious activity involving a staggering 18.4 million UPC tokens, estimating the value of the compromised funds at around $70 million. One can only imagine the hacker, cackling maniacally, as they executed their grand heist.

According to the wise sages at Cyvers, someone managed to access a UPCX address and performed a rather audacious upgrade to its ProxyAdmin contract. The attacker then executed a function that allows admins to withdraw funds, leading to a veritable buffet of transfers from three different management accounts. Talk about a buffet where the hacker is the only guest!

As of this very moment, the stolen tokens remain untouched, like a fine wine waiting for the right occasion—or perhaps just waiting for the authorities to catch up.

CryptoMoon, in its quest for truth, reached out to UPCX for comments but was met with the deafening silence of a thousand crickets. 🦗

UPC price dips by 7% amid unauthorized transfer

In a statement that could only be described as a classic case of “too little, too late,” UPCX acknowledged the “unauthorized activity” involving its management accounts. The team, in a fit of panic, suspended deposits and withdrawals, claiming that user assets are unaffected. How reassuring! They are actively investigating the matter, which is comforting, if not a tad late.

Meanwhile, the price of UPC’s token took a nosedive, dropping 7% from a high of $4.06 to a low of $3.77. CoinGecko reported this tragic turn of events, as if the market were a soap opera and we were all unwitting spectators. 📉

UPC hack mirrors previous attack patterns

In a statement that could have been pulled from the pages of a thriller, Cyvers co-founder and chief technology officer Meir Dolev told CryptoMoon that while the root cause of the attack remains shrouded in mystery, these types of incidents often stem from compromised credentials or flawed access control mechanisms. Ah, the classic blunders of the digital age!

Dolev, with the air of a seasoned detective, noted that these vulnerabilities have been the predominant cause of Web3 losses in 2024, accounting for over 80% of the stolen funds this year. It seems the hackers are having a field day while the rest of us watch in horror.

He added that the attack pattern was reminiscent of previous exploits, as if the hacker had taken a page from an old playbook. Dolev dramatically stated:

“This incident mirrors attack patterns we’ve documented in prior exploits, where access to critical administrative roles enabled malicious upgrades and fund drainage.”

In a final flourish, the executive emphasized the urgent need to enhance security around wallet permissions, multisignature implementations, and runtime transaction validation. Because, you know, it’s always a good idea to lock the barn door after the horse has bolted.

The $70 million pilfered in this incident would more than double the amount lost in the previous month. In March, the crypto world only lost a paltry $33 million to hacks. What a time to be alive! 🎩💰

2025-04-01 17:02

Shocking Heist: $70 Million Vanishes from UPCX Like a Magician’s Trick!

UPC price dips by 7% amid unauthorized transfer

UPC hack mirrors previous attack patterns

Read More