$800k drained from Mark Cuban $ETH wallet today.

Was MetaMask the Weak Link?
Cuban’s Tryst with DeFi
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Dallas, TX – Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, confirmed to DL News that he lost approximately $870,000 in a cryptocurrency scam late Friday. Observant eyes first noticed the suspicious wallet activities when on-chain detective WazzCrypto highlighted unexpected transactions in a wallet tagged “Mark Cuban 2” on EtherScan.

Initially unaware of these movements, Cuban, when probed by DL News, admitted, “Someone got me for 5 eth.” Though the loss of 5 Ether, currently valued at about $9,000, seems nominal for a billionaire, further investigation revealed a more extensive loss. Altogether, the entrepreneur had approximately $870,000 siphoned off across 10 different cryptocurrencies.

Among these were notable assets like Lido staked Ether, SuperRare, and Ethereum Name Service, besides a range of stablecoins.

$800k drained from Mark Cuban $ETH wallet today. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/8PloqRQri3
— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDailyio) September 16, 2023

Was MetaMask the Weak Link?

Reflecting on the incident, Cuban suspects he might have fallen prey to a compromised version of the MetaMask application. “I’m pretty sure I downloaded a version of MetaMask with some shit in it,” he disclosed to DL News. Interestingly, he had been searching for Circle on Google, not MetaMask. He realized the scam when accessing his account to reorganize it using his mobile. MetaMask crashed a couple of times. I just stopped. Then you emailed me. So I locked my NFTs on OpenSea and transferred all my Polygon in the account,” Cuban added.

These fraudulent activities aren’t isolated. Many swindlers have been known to set up bogus MetaMask apps or extensions, baiting users into unintentionally divulging their private keys or seed phrases. Once these cybercriminals gain access, they swiftly empty victims’ cryptocurrency wallets.

Cuban’s Tryst with DeFi

Mark Cuban is a well-known figure in the DeFi investment sphere. However, this engagement hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In June 2021, during the cryptocurrency bull market, Cuban’s investment in Iron Finance’s TITAN stablecoin went south. The coin’s value plummeted to nothing in a dramatic “bank run,” causing significant losses. “I got hit like everyone else. Live and learn,” he reflected back then.

This incident with Cuban is among a series of high-profile crypto mishaps this month. Just last week, Stake.com, a leading online crypto casino, reported a staggering loss of $41 million. CoinEx also made headlines, claiming they were hacked and lost over $50 million this Wednesday. Not even Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, was safe, as his X account was compromised, leading to a loss of around $700,000 due to a phishing link.

It’s essential to remember that blockchain transactions are permanent and irreversible by design. Once a transaction is confirmed and added to the blockchain ledger, there’s no going back.

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