Report: Israeli-linked Hackers Make Off with $90mln from Iranian Crypto Exchange

The Israel-Iran conflict entered more “uncharted territory” on Thursday, albeit this time in a non-violent way, with the apparent hacking of an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange to the tune of more than 90 million USD.

According to a report in “The Times of Israel”, hackers reportedly close to Israel successfully targeted Nobitex, billed as Iran’s largest cryptocurrency market. The media outlet cited blockchain analytics firms.

In a post on Telegram, an unknown user or users uploaded what they claim was the Iranian company’s full source code, before adding: “ASSETS LEFT IN NOBITEX ARE NOW ENTIRELY OUT IN THE OPEN”.

In a blog post, the analytics firm Elliptic said the pilfered crypto currency was shifted to addresses featuring messages that lambasted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The firm added that the hackers apparently did not aim to benefit financially from the cyberattack, but “effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message.”

The group calls itself Gonjeshke Darande — Farsi (the official language of Iran) for “Predatory Sparrow”. It also accused Nobitex of facilitating the avoidance of western sanctions by Iran’s theocratic government, a post on X claimed.

It a first reaction, Nobitex said its app and website were down due to “unauthorized access” to its systems, also posted on X.