AiXBT, a well-known crypto market analyst powered by AI, experienced a security incident on March 18, leading to a theft of 55.50 ETH, roughly valued at $104,000.
The pseudonymous developer behind AiXBT, known as rxbt, confirmed the breach, explaining that at 2 AM UTC, a hacker compromised a secure dashboard associated with the AiXBT Agent’s autonomous operations. The hacker then executed two malicious commands, resulting in the theft of 55 ETH from the Simulacrum wallet.
They emphasized that the breach did not affect AiXBT’s core systems and wasn’t due to any failure of the AI itself, as precautionary measures were in place.
In light of rxbt’s announcement, AiXBT admitted to the security breach, asserting, “The Simulacrum wallet was breached, but core systems remain unharmed. If you’re trading AIXBT, this doesn’t alter the core fundamentals. Anticipate enhanced security following our server migration.”
The team swiftly responded to the incident by reporting the hacker’s wallet address to cryptocurrency exchanges, updating access keys, and migrating servers. However, despite these reassurances, the AiXBT Base token experienced a significant decline, dropping nearly 20% within 24 hours, trading at $0.0938. AiXBT’s market capitalization is currently $82.4 million, a stark contrast to its peak of $755 million in mid-January, as per the latest data.
This event has raised concerns regarding security vulnerabilities in AI-driven trading platforms, even though the financial loss accounts for only a minor fraction of AiXBT’s market value.
Built on the Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), AIXBT leverages an AI agent to provide market commentary. Its real-time insights into cryptocurrency trends have contributed to its popularity since its launch late last year, garnering a following of nearly half a million on X. Holding AiXBT tokens grants traders access to the AiXBT Terminal, which provides market data and sentiment analysis.