Altcoin prices withstood yet another cryptocurrency hack on Wednesday as millions of dollars’ worth of Solana were stolen.
The market was not spooked after about $6m (£4.9m) was drained from approximately 8,000 wallets containing SOL. Most altcoin prices were in the green as the crypto sector suffered its second major heist this week.
On Monday, more than $200m in cryptocurrencies were stolen from the Nomad bridge.
SOL to USD
Most coins up, Solana down
“This does not appear to be a bug with Solana core code, but in software used by several software wallets popular among users of the network,” said the Solana Foundation on Twitter.
Elliptic, a blockchain security consultancy firm, said on Twitter that the attack began on Tuesday and more than $5.8m was drained. Some USDC and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were also stolen, Elliptic added.
The Solana coin (SOL) was down about 3% around the time that conventional markets closed in North America on Wednesday. (All crypto price information based on CoinMarketCap data.) But other leading coins were up.
Internet computer (ICP) stood out from the crowd by jumping 18%. But, as was the case on Tuesday, most gains were modest.
ICP to USD
Bitcoin stays above $23,000
Bitcoin (BTC) rose about 2% as it stayed above $23,000, while ether (ETH) was flat.
Ripple (XRP), which has gained a lot of attention lately as its parent’s legal battle with the SEC heats up, gained slightly during usual market operating hours but dipped into the red later in the afternoon.
Elliptic said the theft was likely tied to a supply-chain issue that was exploited to steal or uncover private user keys that protect digital assets. Solana said Phantom and Slope wallets were affected due to a weakness in Apple and android mobile apps and Internet browser extensions.
XRP to USD
Fireblocks CEO favors wallet mix
Digital assets need to be protected in a combination…
