The Kuwait Information Security Society has revealed that investors in Bitcoin Kuwait (BTCQ8) tokens suffered a hack attack that resulted in the loss of around $130 million (40 million Kuwaiti dinars). The BTCQ8 cryptocurrency is developed on the Solana blockchain.
The Kuwait scam is being called “one of the biggest in the history” of trading in the country, as accusations mount against an anonymous developer believed to be responsible for Kuwait’s biggest fraud. The BTCQ8 token was developed on Solana on January 14.
Mega Crypto Scam Drains $130 Million in Kuwait
After the launch of the BTCQ8 token, it rose to $0.0193 and subsequently collapsed by 99%, affecting almost 3,000 investors, mostly inexperienced traders. As a result, the Central Bank of Kuwait officially banned any transactions with a digital asset.
In 2024, cryptocurrency hacks reached an unprecedented level of sophistication, affecting both decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and government institutions. According to Chainalysis, stolen funds increased by 21.07% year-over-year to $2.2 billion, and the number of individual hack incidents increased from 282 in 2023 to 303 in 2024.
“We are aware that one of our multisig wallets has suffered a security breach. Our team is actively investigating the incident. To ensure the safety of users’ assets, INR and cryptocurrency withdrawals will be temporarily suspended,” WazirX told BeInCrypto.
The Kuwait scam was exposed by Kuwait University computer science professor and president of the Kuwait Society for Information Security Safaa Zaman. The expert directly accused the creators of “Bitcoin Kuwait” of disappearing with funds, affecting young and inexperienced investors.
$btcq8
If anyone was fooled by BTCQ8, please contact me.
If anyone got scammed with BTCQ8, please reach out.$lux $hood $brood $pepe $ufs $elon $kuwait $btc $btckuwait
$btcq8 pic.twitter.com/AS3kaoOtHE
— WeirdSpecter (@thebtcfounder) February 2, 2025
The professor explained that 60% of crypto traders in the country are young and inexperienced. He also pointed out that there is a boom in gaming, which has facilitated the increase in the use of cryptocurrencies. However, he criticized that in the country, crypto providers are not pressured to warn their users about potential scams.
The mastermind behind ‘Bitcoin Kuwait’ operated freely for three years, deceiving investors and disappearing with millions, he said.
Solana token scams on the rise
BeInCrypto explained in an analysis that the rise in phishing attacks and the rise in identity theft continue to affect ordinary users, who should be more cautious when interacting with unverified websites. Throughout 2024, the crypto industry witnessed some major attacks. Below are the three attacks that caused the biggest losses for investors.
In the first half of 2024 alone, the crypto industry lost over $1.19 billion as a result of 149 hacks and frauds. However, this past July saw 15.9% less crypto stolen compared to last year.
The article Mega Cryptocurrency Scam Drains $130 Million in User Funds appeared first on BeInCrypto Brazil.