Solana Hack: Wallet Apps Reveal Vulnerabilities

The crypto community has been shocked by yet another massive hack. This time, the Solana blockchain, with its SOL making the top 10 coins in terms of market cap, has become a target of crypto abuse. The attack started on late Tuesday, August 2, and went on overnight. As of August 3, over 8,000 wallets were reported compromised, with the number of victims continuing to increase. Several addresses linked to the attack have been detected through Solana FM Explorer. Based on this data, the losses amount to millions of dollars.

The cause of the attack is still being investigated, but we know that those who were unhappy to lose their money used hot wallets’ mobile apps and imported their seed phrase to Slope Wallet. Co-founder of Solana Labs Anatoly Yakovenko tweeted that iOS wallets succumbed to the supply chain attacks. Later on, he updated his tweet, admitting that Android wallets had also been affected.

Allegedly, attacks have been spinned off via third-party involvement as hackers were able to approve transactions on behalf of wallet owners. So far, it has been revealed that users of Phantom, Slope, TrustWallet and other hot wallets fell victim to the attacks.

FinTech expert Adam Cochran has surveyed some users who lost their money in a hack. In his opinion, the attacks might be a result of badly stored private keys. It has turned out that most Trust Wallet users imported their seed phrase to Slope Wallet. This coincidence may shed light on the reasons for the mysterious disappearance of millions of dollars from crypto wallets around the globe. Anyone with a seed phrase has no difficulty in gaining access to funds on Trust or any other wallet.

Hot Wallets Vs. Cold Wallets

The incident has definitely raised a red flag for all users of hot wallets, the ones that store keys online and always stay connected to the Internet. Alternatively, cold wallets are devices that usually look like USB drives that keep keys and a backup phrase offline. Supporters of cold wallets are probably gleeful about the Solana case confirming their strong belief that hardware devices are the best place to keep money safe. 

At the same time, the ease of use is definitely a weak point of cold wallets and a strong one of hot wallets. Besides, cold wallets can also be compromised, as in the case of Trezor phishing attacks. How to strike a balance between convenience and safety? Here we present three crypto wallets that can boast zero-hack background while offering fast and convenient solutions.

NOW Wallet

NOW Wallet, developed by the ChangeNOW team, is a non-custodial crypto wallet that does not keep users’ private keys or a seed phrase, thus enabling them to control their funds fully. Therefore, you can rest assured that your backup phrase never leaves your device unless you deliberately share it with any third party. The Solana case has demonstrated what consequences there can be.

The choice of over 20,000 pairs makes it easy to store and exchange virtually any cryptocurrency you can think of, and Fiat-to-crypto swaps are also possible. Users of NOW Wallet can store any tokens on 7 networks: Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Avax C-Chain, TRON, Klaytn, and Solana. Moreover, NOW Wallet allows it to securely store NFTs on Ethereum and Solana and connect to dApps with WalletConnect.

Going beyond mere storage functions, NOW Wallet provides opportunities to earn passive income, enabling BNB, TRX, and NOW Token staking features. Importantly, an advanced version of TRX staking is available, with all the features and functionality that TRON offers.

There has been not a single breach of NOW Wallet security thanks to the strong and efficient AML mechanisms, preventing any kind of fraud and scams. ChangeNOW team has greatly contributed to creating a safe and reliable crypto environment, recovering over $19 million from hacks and fraud so far.

Guarda Wallet

This crypto wallet offers access to 300+ currencies that you can easily buy, store, and stake, thereby earning you some extra income. With Guarda, you can track your portfolio and access your funds from anywhere using a desktop or mobile device.

This wallet can be used with the Ledger Nano S, giving it a security boost. Guarda Wallet is perfect for first-time crypto investors due to its user-friendly interface and responsive customer service. Staking and crypto-backed loans are among the advanced features that experienced crypto investors will appreciate.

MetaMask Wallet

MetaMask wallet is one in the ConsenSys product family. It empowers storage and swaps of Ethereum-based tokens. The security is ensured by the way the wallet deals with users’ sensitive data. All passwords and keys are generated on a device, so only a wallet’s owner has access to their accounts and data. Besides, MetaMask continually enhances its security mechanisms by collaborating with an active community of security researchers through the Bug Bounty Program.

MetaMask enables swap tokens from a desktop or mobile wallet. While only Ethereum-based tokens are available for swapping, users of MetaMask can buy stablecoins and native tokens across a wide variety of networks: Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, and Celo. No staking is available, though.

Bottom Line

It is a sad truth, but scams and cyberattacks have become a frequent occurrence in the crypto sphere. At the same time, the most frequent reason for them is users’ negligence of simple safety rules. The case of Solana’s massive hack is yet another proof of the importance of maintaining cyber hygiene and being especially selective when picking a reliable crypto wallet. 

Security is a sensitive issue when it comes to storing and otherwise managing digital assets. The beauty of non-custodial crypto wallets is that they combine safety and convenience of use. Naturally, your choice of a crypto wallet should depend on your preferences and based on your own thorough research. The three wallets presented above are just the options to pay heed to. 

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