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An American crypto investor says he just lost his retirement savings after hackers stole $3 million in XRP.
Brandon LaRoque, a 54-year-old from North Carolina, says he had accumulated 1.2 million XRP since 2017 as a retirement fund with his wife.
But according to blockchain researchers including ZachXBT, attackers drained the crypto on October 12th after initiating two 10-XRP test transfers, sweeping the rest to a new address.
LaRoque says the loss has turned he and his wife’s financial future upside down.
“That was our whole retirement for my wife and I. And I don’t know what we’re going to do. I guess we’re going to go back to work.
Fortunately, I did diversify into some metals, which thank God I did. Nowhere near anything like what I had in crypto. Crypto was supposed to be the touchdown.”
Ellipal says the loss is not due to a hardware flaw, but happened after LaRoque imported his hardware wallet’s seed phrase online, creating a hot wallet vulnerable to online risks like malware and remote attack.
“Our hearts go out to Brandon during this difficult time. No one should ever have to experience such a loss.
After discussing the situation with Brandon and reviewing the available details, we understand that this was not a cold wallet hack, but a hot wallet theft — meaning the wallet involved was connected to the internet.”
The funds went through over 120 Ripple-to-Tron swaps via Bridgers, consolidating on Tron before dispersal on Huione, a Cambodian entity sanctioned by US authorities.
