Hackers siphon $3 million in XRP from US user's wallet: ZachXBT

A U.S. crypto user has lost approximately $3.05 million in XRP after their Ellipal wallet was compromised, with the stolen funds being transferred through bridges and ultimately laundered to over-the-counter venues adjacent to Huione, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.

In a detailed X thread posted on Oct. 19, the sleuth identified the theft address, mapped more than 120 Ripple to Tron swaps via bridges on Oct. 12. He also published onchain findings showing the funds consolidating on Tron before being dispersed to Huione-linked OTCs by Oct. 15.

U.S. authorities have alleged that Huione and its related marketplaces facilitate massive laundering tied to scams and cybercrime in Southeast Asia. Recently, treasury officials proposed sweeping sanctions against entities affiliated with the illicit organization. Earlier in 2025, FinCEN also proposed a rule targeting Cambodia’s Huione as a primary money-laundering concern, citing billions in suspicious flows.

Meanwhile, ZachXBT said the victim appeared inexperienced and that available details point to user error rather than a hardware zero-day. Products that offer both custodial and non-custodial options can be confusing to users. Here, the victim believed they were using a cold-storage product when in reality, it functioned as a hot wallet, according to the web3 detective.

The episode spotlights enduring attack vectors that have persisted through 2025. A recent TRM Labs report found more than $2 billion stolen in the first half of the year, driven by front-end compromises, private-key thefts, and wallet breaches. Both categories often end in cross-chain swaps and OTC off-ramps similar to those flagged by ZachXBT.

As is typical with such cases, ZachXBT said the recovery outlook appears low given reporting delays and jurisdictional hurdles. The security expert urged stricter controls from centralized exchanges and stablecoin issuers to curb OTC-based laundering.

XRP — the native token of the XRP Ledger, a payments-focused network used for fast value transfer — traded around $2.46 today, The Block’s price page shows. The token has increased by 6% in the past 24 hours, as cryptocurrencies have stabilized after a recent multi-billion-dollar liquidation cascade.