MetaWin Ethereum/Solana Frictionless Hot Wallet Exploit

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MetaWin Logo/Homepage

MetaWin is an online casino with support for both Ethereum and Solana. On November 3rd, their frictionless hot waller system was exploited and used to withdraw $4.4m worth of cryptocurrency. The MetaWin CEO has replenished the funds from his own personal savings, performed a security assessment and upgrade, and vowed that the platform will continue to operate.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

About MetaWin

"Welcome to Winning in Web3! Connect your Web3 wallet to enjoy… Super fast winnings! No pesky human interactions or wagering of deposits. Secure, Transparent on-chain instant prize draws."

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

  • When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
  • Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
  • How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
  • Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

"The crypto casino Metawin was drained of about $4 million in tokens after hackers exploited its withdrawal system to attack the protocol’s hot wallets on Ethereum and Solana."

Key Event Timeline - MetaWin Ethereum/Solana Frictionless Hot Wallet Exploit
Date Event Description
November 3rd, 2024 3:44:24 AM MST Timestamp Of Transaction The timestamp of one of the transactions withdrawing from MWin's hot wallet.
November 3rd, 2024 11:26:53 AM MST The Block Article The Block publishes an article with details about the MetaWin exploit.
November 4th, 2024 4:47:15 AM MST BraveNewCoin Article BraveNewCoin reports on the incident.
November 4th, 2024 7:49:20 AM MST ChainCatcher Article Published ChainCatcher publishes an article about the exploit, as reported by ZachXBT.

Technical Details

"An exploiter managed to steal a significant amount of tokens from crypto casino Metawin's Ethereum and Solana hot wallets by exploiting the protocol's "frictionless withdrawal system," Metawin CEO Richard "Skel" Skelhorn announced early on Sunday."

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $4,400,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

"According to on-chain detective ZachXBT, the cryptocurrency gambling platform MetaWin was reportedly attacked, resulting in the theft of over $4 million on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains."

"Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, alongside Skelhorn, pegged the amount stolen to over $4 million with 115 theft addresses tied to the exploit, implying some level of technical competence on the part of the hacker. "So far the stolen funds have been transferred to Kucoin and a HitBTC nested service," ZachXBT noted."

"Metawin has restored access, backfilled the stolen funds, and contacted law enforcement, according to its CEO."

"While Metawin's withdrawals were temporarily disabled, they've since been re-enabled according to an update from Skelhorn on Discord. Skelhorn also noted that the authorities had been contacted."

"Hey guys... Today we experienced an attack where an exploiter was able to withdraw a significant amount from our hot wallets by taking advantage of our frictionless withdrawal system. We temporarily paused withdrawals to assess and secure our systems. Now, withdrawals have been re-enabled for 95% of users, with final checks underway for the remaining accounts. We're in the process of topping up wallet balances now. We'll also be implementing additional security controls for new users, while also exploring ways to maintain a flexible and seamless experience for our trusted community. In short, today we faced a challenge, but we're learning from it and will emerge stronger. Apologies for the temporary pause, everything will be back to normal within the hour."

Ultimate Outcome

"We’re not gonna dwell on it. It’s in the hands of the feds now and we will make some internal adjustments to keep the players happy but the bad actors at bay," Skelhorn's update states. In an earlier message, Skelhorn implied he covered for the hack with own funds, writing, "I just emptied my piggy bank, we don’t dwell on it. We keep building."

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.

References

  1. ↑ ZachXBT：加密博彩平台Metawin疑遭攻击损失超400万美元_快讯-odaily (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  2. ↑ ZachXBT: The crypto gambling platform Metawin is suspected to have been hacked, resulting in losses exceeding 4 million dollars - ChainCatcher (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  3. ↑ Crypto Casino Platform MetaWin Hacked - Brave New Coin (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  4. ↑ Cryptohack Roundup: M2, Metawin Exploits - BankInfoSecurity (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  5. ↑ https://www.theblock.co/post/324251/crypto-casino-metawin-loses-4-million-to-exploit-of-ethereum-solana-hot-wallets (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  6. ↑ ZachXBT's report on Chainabuse: Hack - Other (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  7. ↑ Telegram: Contact @investigations (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  8. ↑ Discord (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  9. ↑ Online Casino MetaWin hacked for $4 million — ZackXBT — TradingView News (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  10. ↑ Lessons from the MetaWin Hack: Balancing Convenience and Security in Crypto - OneSafe Blog (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  11. ↑ El Dorado P2P Lessons from the Metawin Hack: Securing Crypto Platforms (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  12. ↑ Explained: The MetaWin Hack (November 2024) (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  13. ↑ MetaWin Suffers $4M Hot Wallet Exploit, Recovers Withdrawals for Most Users - BitcoinWorld (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
  14. ↑ Next-Gen Solana Explorer (Accessed Dec 9, 2024)
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