Israel-Linked 'Predatory Sparrow' Hackers Say They've Drained Millions In Bitcoin, Ethereum From Iran's Crypto Exchange

Iranian cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, was hacked for nearly $90 million on Wednesday, with an Israel-linked group claiming responsibility for the cyberattack.

What Happened: A group called Gonjeshke Darande, or "Predatory Sparrow," announced the attack on X, calling Nobitex “a tool for financing terrorism and violating sanctions.”

“In the next 24 hours, we will publish the Nobitex source code and internal information from its internal network. Any assets left there after that will be at risk,” the group said in an X post in Persian.

This marks the second operation by the hacking group in two days, following their claim of data destruction at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah on Tuesday, a Reuters report said.

While Israel has never officially acknowledged its association with Gonjeshke Darande, Israeli news outlets such as the Jerusalem Post have reported the group as “Israel-linked”.

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Why It Matters: Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, was exploited for more than $90 million in assets across a range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD and Dogecoin DOGE/USD, according to on-chain analytics firm Chainalysis.

Chainlaysis said the exchange is involved in “illicit” activities, having wallets affiliated with ransomware operators, and entities tied to militant groups such as Hamas and the Houthis.

This cyberattack on Nobitex comes amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, with the two rivals carrying out missile attacks against each other since last week.

Iran’s state-run news agency IRIB warned citizens against using WhatsApp, Telegram, and other “location-based applications,” claiming they are tools for Israeli surveillance. Israel has also launched attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure, causing a surge in global energy prices.

Photo Courtesy: Sergey Nivens on Shutterstock.com

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