Digital asset investment firm BlockTower Capital is facing a serious challenge after fraudsters hacked into its main hedge fund.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the stolen funds have still not been recovered, and the hackers have yet to be caught. BlockTower responded by hiring blockchain forensic analysts to investigate the theft. The company recently notified its limited partners of the incident.
It is not yet clear what the exact amount stolen from BlockTower Capital’s hedge fund was. PitchBook data shows that the firm manages $1.7 billion in assets.
Dexibel security vulnerability
This is not the first time the company has been in trouble. in 2023. BlockTower lost about $1.5 million in TRU tokens as a result of a security vulnerability in decentralized exchange platform Dexibel.
BlockTower Capital was founded in 2017 by Matthew Goetz and Ari Paul. Based in Miami, Florida, the company focuses on professional trading, venture investing, credit underwriting and portfolio management of both digital and traditional assets. BlockTower actively trades liquid crypto assets, invests in real credit assets and participates in next-generation venture investments in the web3 space.
Hackers remain a major threat to the cryptocurrency industry, despite stealing less money overall in 2023 compared to 2022. This may seem like good news, but the number of hacking attempts has actually increased. In 2022, there were 219 hacks, and in 2023 the number rose to 231.
Despite this, the total value stolen fell by a significant 54.3%, reaching $1.7 billion in 2023. The decline was mainly due to a drop in the number of DeFi hacks. Hackers managed to steal $1.1 billion from DeFi platforms in 2023, a sharp decline from the $3.1 billion they stole in 2022.
Meanwhile, Web3 users lost $336 million to hacking and fraud in the first three months of 2024, with a significant portion – nearly half – stolen in January. Despite the alarming losses, this actually represents a 23% improvement over the same period in 2023.
