Bitcoin Bandit Strikes: $282M Vanishes Like Smoke! 😱

Ah, comrades! Another tale of capitalist folly unfolds-this time, a digital highway robbery so brazen it would make even the greediest oligarch blush. šŸ¤‘ Some slick-fingered rogue has pilfered a staggering $282 million in Bitcoin and Litecoin, swindling victims through a hardware-wallet trickery so cunning, it’d make Rasputin proud. Lookonchain, those tireless watchdogs of the crypto streets, barked the news into the void of X.

Monero’s Suspiciously Timely Price Ballet šŸ’ƒ

And what does our thief do with his ill-gotten gains? Why, he launders them through Monero, that shadowy darling of privacy coins-because nothing says “innocent” like converting stolen loot into untraceable digital whispers. šŸ•µļøā€ā™‚ļø Naturally, this grand exchange sent Monero’s price pirouetting from $612 to $717 faster than a drunken sailor on payday. But alas, gravity is a cruel mistress-Monero now limps at $623, down 11.41%, as the market collectively gulps, fearing the thief’s next move.

According to @zachxbt, a victim lost over $282M worth of $LTC and $BTC in a hardware-wallet social engineering scam.

The attacker swapped part of the $LTC and $BTC into $XMR, triggering a sharp spike in $XMR’s price.

The attacker also used #THORChain to swap 818 $BTC($78M) into…

– Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 17, 2026

Trading volume? Down 29.99%, like a deflated soufflĆ©. The Monero faithful tremble, whispering of impending dumps-because nothing unites crypto enthusiasts like shared panic. Meanwhile, our villain, ever the innovator, dances across chains using THORChain, that decentralized playground for cross-chain mischief. Truly, a modern Prometheus-if Prometheus stole fire and immediately sold it on the dark web. šŸ”„

Monero: The Outlaw’s Favorite Toy 🤠

Yet Monero, that rebellious darling, clings to its throne as the 12th-largest crypto, flaunting an $11.54 billion market cap. Even Peter Brandt, that old wolf of Wall Street, couldn’t resist its siren song, boasting of fat profits-proof that crime does pay, if you’re holding the right bag. šŸ‘œ

And so, the crypto circus rolls on. Privacy coins, scorned by regulators and adored by anarchists, march forward-whether as tools of liberation or instruments of theft depends on who’s holding the keys. But mark my words, comrades: in this digital Wild West, the only law is the one you can enforce with code… or a very good lawyer. āš–ļø

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2026-01-17 16:11