Pro-Israel Group Claims $81M Crypto Hack At Iran’s Nobitex Exchange

Nobitex, Iran’s largest crypto exchange, suffered a major hot‑wallet hack this week. On June 18, 2025, on‑chain investigator ZachXBT revealed through Telegram that attackers drained at least $81 million of digital assets across Tron and EVM‑compatible chains.

The exploit, which employed “vanity” wallet addresses, underscores growing security risks for regional exchanges—and highlights the heightened role of geopolitical actors in crypto.

How the Crypto Hack Happened

ZachXBT’s Wednesday post detailed four suspicious outflows from Nobitex‑linked wallets. The first withdrawal totaled $49 million, moved through the vanity address “TKFuckiRGCTerroristsNoBiTEXy2r7mNX.”

A second transfer used “0xffFFfFFffFFffFfFffFFfFfFfFFFFfFfFFFFDead” to funnel assets. Both transactions were traced on Tronscan, confirming the loss of funds in the millions.

The third outflow used 1FuckiRGCTerroristsNoBiTEXXXaAovLX and the fourth DFuckiRGCTerroristsNoBiTEXXXWLW65t to channel funds from the exchange.

A vanity address lets crypto hackers craft wallet addresses that match a chosen pattern. In this case, the malicious addresses combined profanity and political slurs with “Nobitex” branding.

By routing withdrawals through these custom addresses, the hackers bypassed standard watchlists and raised no immediate alarms.

Vanity‑address attacks accounted for less than 1 percent of crypto hacks in 2024, according to blockchain security firm CertiK.

But in 2025, wallet‑compromise incidents—driven by social engineering and mis‑managed keys—now account for over 65 percent of the $2.1 billion stolen so far this year per Certik report on June 2.

Impact of The Hack

Nobitex confirmed “unauthorized access” to parts of its hot‑wallet infrastructure. In an X post, the exchange said it immediately suspended affected wallets and diverted user deposits to cold storage.

“Users’ assets are completely secure according to cold storage standards, and the above incident only affected a portion of the assets in hot wallets. All damages will be compensated through the insurance fund and Nobitex resources.” the exchange posted.

At press time, Nobitex stated that cold wallets remain secure, and only a “portion of the hot‑wallet assets” were compromised. The exchange did not disclose the exact breakdown between Tron‑based and EVM‑chain losses.

Crypto exchanges have lost over $2 billion to hacks and thefts in 2025. CertiK’s data shows that operational failures—such as key‑management errors and social‑engineering scams—now eclipse smart‑contract vulnerabilities. In contrast, 2024 saw roughly equal proportions of protocol and wallet exploits.

High‑profile incidents in 2025 include the January theft of $120 million from PlatformX and a March $95 million exploit on DeFi protocol Y.

The Nobitex crypto hack underscores that regional exchanges, often lacking the deep security budgets of top global platforms, remain prime targets.

Pro-Israeli Hackers Claim Responsibility

A group calling itself “Gonjeshke Darande,” which self‑identifies as a pro‑Israel hacker collective, claimed responsibility on X.

The group accused Nobitex of “financing terror” and threatened to release the exchange’s source code and internal files within 24 hours unless remaining assets were handed over.

“The Nobitex exchange is at the heart of the regime’s efforts to finance terror worldwide,” the post read. It warned that any unrecovered funds would face “additional risk.”

This marks one of the first instances of a politically motivated cyber‑attack claiming ties to state‑level narratives within crypto.

Nobitex’s promise to cover losses through insurance is standard in the industry, but delays in compensation can erode user trust.

Regulatory bodies in the Middle East and Europe should examine exchange security standards more closely.

As of June 2025, more than $2.1 billion in crypto assets have been stolen this year. With geopolitical actors entering the fray, exchanges worldwide may face escalated crypto hack threats.

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