The whale, the hack and the psychological earthquake that hit HEX
A $4.5-million HEX hack shook its staking ecosystem and exposed a web of phishing, laundering and wallet-draining operations.
An elderly crypto whale known as “HEX 19” lost nearly $4.5 million in a slow-moving hack that drained his staked HEX (HEX) over multiple years.
At first, it looked like a HEX whale was cashing out. But it wasn’t long before the community realized he didn’t voluntarily unstake his tokens — he had become a victim of a major exploit.
The cyberattack started in November 2021, touched multiple phishing wallets, and was traced back to an online entity known as “Konpyl,” a threat actor familiar to crypto investigators.
