One of the largest individual thefts in crypto history has just been uncovered by blockchain sleuth ZachXBT. Here are the key facts:
The Date: January 10–11, 2026.
The Loss: Over $282 million in assets, primarily Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC).
The Method: A sophisticated social engineering attack targeting a high-net-worth individual ("whale"). Despite using a hardware wallet, the victim was manipulated into authorizing fraudulent transactions.
The Assets Stolen:
| Asset | Amount |
| :--- | :--- |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | ~1,459 BTC |
| Litecoin (LTC) | ~2.05 Million LTC |
🛠️ How the Hacker is Hiding the Money
The attacker is using advanced laundering techniques to vanish:
Monero (XMR) Swaps: Stolen funds were moved through "instant exchanges" into Monero. The massive volume caused XMR to spike to an all-time high on January 14.
Cross-Chain Bridging: A portion of the BTC was moved via Thorchain to Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin networks to break the trail.
No KYC: By using decentralized protocols and privacy coins, the attacker has made traditional tracking extremely difficult.
💡 The Big Lesson
Even the most secure hardware wallets cannot protect against human error. This hack proves that "social engineering" (psychological manipulation) is now a bigger threat than technical exploits.
Security Tip: Never authorize a transaction or provide your seed phrase/XPK based on an urgent email or social media message, even if it looks like it’s from your wallet provider.
