Crypto Holder Loses $24 Million in Address Poisoning Attack Tied to Violent Threats

A crypto holder identified as Sillytuna lost approximately $24 million in aEthUSDC after an address poisoning attack, with the incident also involving violent threats.

According to on-chain data, the attacker has already converted most of the stolen funds.

Why it matters:

An address poisoning attack is a crypto scam in which scammers create a lookalike address and send a small transaction to the target’s address book.
This “poisons” the target’s address book, leading them to mistakenly send funds to the scammer’s address instead of the intended recipient.
It relies on the fact that people may copy wallet addresses from recent transactions rather than verify the full address.
The attack on Sillytuna is part of a broader escalating pattern. According to blockchain security firm CertiK, 2025 was the most violent year in the cryptocurrency space, with 72 recorded incidents.

The details:

PeckShieldAlert identified the exploited address as 0xd2e8…ca41, linked to Sillytuna, with approximately $24 million in aEthUSDC drained.
Sillytuna confirmed on X that the attack involved violence, weapons, and kidnapping threats, with police now involved.
Lookonchain tracked the attacker converting most funds into 20.34M DAI (DAI), with a smaller portion bridged to Arbitrum and deposited into Hyperliquid to purchase Monero (XMR).
Sillytuna is offering a 10% bounty on any funds recovered by individuals or platforms.

The big picture:

Physical violence against crypto holders surged 75% year over year in 2025. Kidnapping was the most common attack method, with assaults also rising sharply.
XMR purchases by attackers indicate a deliberate pivot to privacy coins to obstruct on-chain tracing and asset recovery efforts.

The post Crypto Holder Loses $24 Million in Address Poisoning Attack Tied to Violent Threats appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Source: https://beincrypto.com/crypto-attack-sillytuna-violent-threats/