On Wednesday, Bo Shen – the founding partner of Vitalik Buterin-advised VC firm Fenbushi Capital – revealed on Twitter that he lost $42 million worth of crypto, including 38M in USDC, from his wallet.
According to Shen, only his personal funds were affected, and none of Fenbushi Capital’s assets were compromised. The incident has been reported to local law enforcement, with both the FBI and lawyers involved.
“Civilization and justice will eventually prevail over barbarism and evil. This is the iron law of human society. It’s just a matter of time,” wrote Shen in his Twitter post.
While no additional details were revealed, blockchain security firm SlowMist said that the theft was due to mnemonic words compromise. Additionally, Shen’s Trust Wallet had no security issues related to the hack.
1/ Reason for theft: Mnemonic words compromise
— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) November 23, 2022
Wallet used at the time of the theft: Trust Wallet
Amount: 38,233,180 $USDC + 1,607 $ETH + 719,760 $USDT + 4.13 $BTC
SlowMist also shared the affected wallet addresses, which showed most of the stolen funds were sent to crypto swapping protocol ChangeNOW.
“We are working with @boshen1011 to follow up on this theft, and with the FBI and lawyers already involved, we are calling on the hackers to pay back the money ASAP,” added SlowMist.
Shen was also a victim of an attack in 2016. Back then, hackers got access to his smart phone and email using social engineering techniques and drained over $300k worth of crypto.
On Twitter, even though the community members showed support, they expressed concern over the state of things in crypto. Some users questioned if it was even possible to stay safe for retail investors when high-profile investors are falling victim to hacks.
How can crypto can ever go main stream when sophisticated investors can't protect their own crypto.
— Tushar Patel (@Tushar_BK07) November 23, 2022
just can't imagine what will happen to the average common man with below average knowledge of crypto tech and jargons.
Meanwhile, Shen appreciated the supportive comments and promised to continue supporting decentralized protocol-level entrepreneurship and innovation driven by blockchain technology.