Cryptocurrency custodian loses $24 million in address poisoning attack linked to violent threats

A cryptocurrency holder known as Seletona lost about $24 million in aEthUSDC after an address poisoning attack, with violent threats involved in the incident.

The chain’s data showed that the attacker had already transferred most of the stolen funds.

Main points of the article:

• Explain that an address poisoning attack is a scam where scammers create a similar address and send a small transaction to the victim’s address book.
• This process “taints” the victim’s address book, causing them to mistakenly send money to the scammer’s address instead of the intended recipient.
• It is based on the fact that some people might copy wallet addresses from recent transactions instead of fully verifying the address.
• A report from the security firm Cirtec explained that the attack on Seletona falls in a broad upward pattern, with 2025 being the most violent year in the cryptocurrency space with 72 recorded incidents.

the details:

• The PeckShieldAlert account revealed that the exploited address was 0xd2e8…ca41 associated with Seletona, with approximately $24 million stolen from aEthUSDC.
• Seletona confirmed via X that the attack involved violence, threats of weapons and kidnapping, and that the police are now involved in the investigation.
• Lookonchain traced that the attack transferred most of the funds to 20.34 million DAI, while a smaller part was converted to Arbitrum and deposited in Hyperliquid to buy Monero (XMR).
• Seletona offers a 10% reward on any funds recovered from individuals or platforms.

The bigger picture:

• Acts of physical violence against cryptocurrency holders have increased by 75% annually in 2025. Kidnapping has become the most common method of attack, with assaults also on the rise.
• The attackers’ purchase of XMR reflects an intentional shift toward privacy-enabled currencies to disrupt on-chain tracking and asset recovery attempts.