Chris Larsen Lost $150M Worth of XRP in January From a LastPass Breach

ZachXBT revealed today that Ripple Co-founder Chris Larsen lost $150 million worth of XRP in January. The theft was linked to the infamous LastPass breach from 2022.

As one of the most vivid scenes in the crypto saga of 2024, the tale of Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, losing $150 million in January has unfolded.

Now, the narrative takes a new twist with a US law enforcement filing, forging a surprising link between the heist and the infamous LastPass breach from 2022.

The discovery was made by noted crypto sleuth ZachXBT, who has been investigating several types of crimes in the industry. From pursuing major criminals like the Lazarus Group to helping victims recover funds, ZachXBT also brings to light uncomfortable truths about projects.

Last month, he engaged in an investigation that led to most of OpSec’s staff members resigning from their roles. More recently, his attention has been focused on Ripple.

“A forfeiture complaint filed yesterday by US law enforcement claims the cause for the ~$150 million hack of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s wallet in January 2024 was the result of storing private keys in LastPass (password manager which was breached in 2022.) Up to this point Chris Larsen had not publicly disclosed the cause of the theft,” ZachXBT shared on Telegram.

This particular hack targeted Larsen’s private XRP wallet. It appears that the Ripple co-founder used the password management software LastPass to store his private wallet keys.

However, LastPass fell victim to a breach in 2022, and unfortunately, the details of Larsen’s wallet, along with those of several hundred other users, were compromised. At the time of the breach, it was estimated that around $35 million in crypto was stolen from 150 victims. But after today’s discovery, the amount appears to be significantly larger.

Naturally, the price of Ripple’s XRP token did not respond well to ZachXBT’s allegations. Its price has already been somewhat erratic, dropping 20% after Trump’s Crypto Reserve announcement.

Earlier this morning, XRP was cautiously showing signs of a price rebound, but it fell more than 7% after the Telegram post. This might be largely due to the market’s underlying macroeconomic conditions.

In another recent development, a US judge has reportedly ruled against the SEC in its case against crypto exchange Gemini. The case focused on Gemini’s interest in offering a tokenized stock product.

LastPass is still actively advertising its services on social media, and ZachXBT called the firm out with harsh invective.

“Has your team forgotten LastPass was breached in 2022 which has lead to 9 figures in crypto thefts? Let’s not forget your team has long covered up the extent of the attack and gaslit many confirmed victims. Now… even law enforcement publicly agrees you are likely to blame. Not a single person should use LastPass if they want a secure password manager,” he added.