A group of disgruntled cryptocurrency investors have initiated a class action against Atomic Wallet, following a major breach that resulted in $100 million in losses in June.
According to bne IntelliNews, dozens of high-net-worth investors from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States are participating in the class action against Atomic Wallet.
The lawsuit is being coordinated by German lawyer Max Gutbrod and Boris Feldman, co-founder of Moscow legaltech firm Destra Legal.
Gutbrod, a former partner at Baker & McKenzie in Moscow, stated that the lawyers are representing around 50 clients who collectively lost $12 million due to Atomic Wallet’s breach. He said:
“We are working on recovering the assets for our clients and we will be filing a class action against Atomic Wallet […] They didn’t give our clients any information about the hack or report it to the police.”
Atomic Wallet, a noncustodial cryptocurrency wallet, experienced a significant exploit resulting in a $100 million loss in June 2023. This breach impacted at least 5,500 crypto accounts on the platform. Crypto analytics firms, including Elliptic, later connected the heist to the North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus Group, known for stealing billions in cryptocurrency through various means.
However, the new claims suggest that there may be another perpetrator involved. Boris Feldman alleges that a Ukrainian group likely orchestrated the hack. His firm, Destra, has been working on the case alongside Match Systems, a blockchain analytics company conducting its own investigation on behalf of the investors.
According to Feldman, “They have found traces of involvement of Ukrainian hacker groups.”
Related: Newly discovered Bitcoin wallet loophole let hackers steal $900K — SlowMist
Atomic Wallet has not provided specific details regarding the conditions that led to the exploit in June. The company only listed four “probable” causes, including a virus on user devices, an infrastructure breach, a man-in-the-middle attack, or malware code injection. Atomic Wallet has consistently stated that less than 0.1% of app users were affected.
Despite the breach, the cryptocurrency wallet continued operating without interruption.
Atomic Wallet has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Big Questions: Did the NSA create Bitcoin?
