Ripple CEO Slams "Irresponsible Speculation" About Hack

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse took to X to address what he termed "irresponsible speculation and reporting" regarding the security of Ripple-managed wallets. 

In a definitive statement, Garlinghouse clarified, "NO Ripple-managed wallets were compromised. Full stop." 

This response came after Ripple's co-founder Chris Larsen confirmed a security breach involving his personal XRP accounts. Larsen emphasized that the incident was isolated and did not impact Ripple wallets, which he assured remain secure.

Conflicting reports and market impact 

As reported by U.Today, Larsen confirmed a security breach involving unauthorized access to several of his personal XRP accounts. 

This came after independent cryptocurrency investigator ZachXBT reported the theft of roughly $112.5 million worth of XRP. 

Following these events, XRP's trading price experienced a notable decline. In an effort to mitigate misinformation, a community note on the social platform X was issued. The message clarified that Ripple's infrastructure was not compromised and that the security breach pertained solely to Larsen's personal holdings.  

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Yet, ZachXBT called attention to the misattribution of Larsen's compromised account as belonging to Ripple in XRP block explorers. He also noted the omission of Larsen's role as co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple in the community note.

The largest hack of 2024

The hack has resulted in the largest theft of cryptocurrency of the year so far. Last year, the crypto world witnessed around $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen across various hacks, according to numerous crypto security firms.