- Iran is currently engaged in a tense conflict with Israel, with both parties regularly accusing each other of launching cyberattacks. /li>
- Recently, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex was compromised and Pro Israeli group Darande claimed responsibility.
- Nobitex is currently in the process of recovering and restoring its services.
Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex has reportedly gradually restored its services after being hacked earlier this month. The attack, carried out by the pro-Israel hacker group Gonjeshke Darande, resulted in a loss of $100 million.
Nobitex announced via X that verified users will be allowed to withdraw their funds starting June 30 and that it would resume other services like trading and deposits gradually, but did not provide an exact timeline.
However, Nobitex warned users not to use their old wallet addresses, as the exchange has moved to a new wallet system, and that any funds sent to the old addresses could be lost permanently.
“Due to the wallet system migration, previous addresses are no longer valid”.
Nobitex
Crypto War Behind the Hack
It is reported that the attack was politically motivated and tied to tensions between Iran and Israel. Darande who took responsibility for the attack said Nobitex was targeted due to alleged connections to the Iranian government and claimed that it helped fund malicious activities.
“The regime’s dependence on Nobitex is evident from the fact that working at Nobitex is considered valid military service, as it is considered vital to the regime’s efforts. These cyberattacks are the result of Nobitex being a key regime tool for financing terrorism and violating sanctions. Associating with regime terror financing and sanction violation infrastructure puts your assets at risk.”
Darande also said it burned $90 million worth of digital assets and even leaked the exchange’s full source code.
Iran is currently engaged in a tense conflict with Israel, with both parties regularly accusing each other of launching cyberattacks. These digital offensives have become a key part of their ongoing rivalry, targeting critical infrastructure, government systems, and financial networks.
Tighter Rules in Iran
Nobitex plays a key role in Iran’s crypto sector, processing around $11 billion in crypto inflows, much more than all other Iranian exchanges combined. It is also reported that Nobitex has links to sanctioned entities and other high-risk groups.
In response to the hack, Iranian regulators have tightened rules on local crypto exchanges. All exchanges are now only allowed to operate only between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
