IoTeX’s $4.3M Stolen-Private Key Gone Missing!

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In a twist that would make even the most jaded conspiracy theorist raise an eyebrow, IoTeX, the blockchain network that claims to be all about real-world AI, found itself in a situation that’s less “innovative” and more “oh no.” On-chain sleuths report that an attacker, presumably with a keylogger and a sense of humor, siphoned $4.3 million from IoTeX’s TokenSafe contract. It’s like finding out your safety deposit box was robbed by a toddler with a master key.

Independent analyst Specter, ever the drama queen of the blockchain world, took to X to announce the disaster with the urgency of a man who’s just discovered his coffee is decaf. The culprit allegedly minted and spirited away USDC, USDT, IOTX, and a smorgasbord of other tokens, then swapped them into ETH with the efficiency of a crypto-savvy thief who’s clearly been watching too many heist movies.

The private key of @iotex_io may have been compromised, resulting in their token safe being drained for a total loss of approximately $4.3M.

The attacker drained multiple contract assets, including: USDC, USDT, IOTX, PAYG, WBTC, BUSD

The stolen assets were swapped for ETH, and…

Onchain data reveals the funds were swiftly converted to ETH via Uniswap, then bridged to Bitcoin addresses like a digital version of a money launderer’s dream. Two Bitcoin wallets-1PN2Bo…yYEc and 135oSa…o1DG1Aw-have been identified, because nothing says “I’m a hacker” like a wallet address that’s basically a riddle.

But the plot thickens! The attacker allegedly minted an additional 111 million CIOTEX tokens, turning a $4.3 million heist into a full-blown token inflation spectacle. It’s as if the hacker got a free pass to print money and decided to take the offer.

As of 3:38 PM IST, IoTeX has gone silent, leaving the internet to speculate whether this was a security flaw, a prank, or simply the universe’s way of saying, “You’re doing it wrong.”

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2026-02-21 13:24