Crypto Casino Stake Loses Over $40 Million in ‘Suspicious Transactions’

Betting platform Stake is suspected of being the target of an exploit, as on-chain sleuths report $40 million lost in “suspicious” withdrawals.

Crypto casino and betting platform Stake is suspected of being the target of an exploit, as on-chain analyst Cyvers reports that around $16 million has been drained from a wallet linked to the platform.

“Our AI-powered system has detected multiple suspicious transactions with @Stake,” said Cyvers on X.

The address that received the initial $16 million worth of crypto assets has now been emptied, said Cyvers. It had previously reported that the assets were being distributed to different externally owned accounts.

Pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT confirmed this analysis and also said that $26 million had been drained across Polygon and Binance Smart Chain. This brings the amount lost in the suspected exploit to over $40 million.

Stake did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the time of writing, Stake also had not responded to the analysis from on-chain security firms on Twitter.

Around $3.7 billion was stolen in crypto hacks last year, according to a report from blockchain analytics platform TRM Labs. However, for the first quarter of this year, crypto hacks were down 70% compared to the prior year, per TRM Labs report. The average amount stolen for the first quarter sits at the $10 million mark, which is just a quarter of Stake’s reported exploit.

Stake is an Australia headquartered gambling platform that enables users to make sports bets and gamble with cryptocurrencies. A recent Financial Times report highlights how the platform, which launched in 2017, is now one of the biggest gambling companies. It has secured sponsorship deals with Premier League club Everton and Alfa Romeo’s Formula One team. The Financial Times reported that rapper Drake signed a $100 million endorsement deal with the company.

The targeted wallet, as of writing, currently holds a balance of $384,000 worth of ether and $2.2 million in alt-coins.