Hackers drain $8m from crypto accounts

A CRYPTOCURRENCY network that had been hailed as a rival to Bitcoin has seen thousands of consumers’ accounts “drained” of their digital tokens.

In a raid on one of the largest cryptocurrency networks, Us-based Solana confirmed its users had been the victims of a cyberattack yesterday with millions of dollars stripped from accounts.

Solana engineers said 8,000 wallets had been impacted by the hack, while cryptocurrency analysts estimated that at least $8m (£6.6m) had been stolen.

Users of Solana’s technology said that their private cryptocurrency wallets were being emptied before their eyes.

A cryptocurrency and blockchain network, Solana has been compared with major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum.

As well as relying on a blockchain, or a kind of digital ledger that is resistant to fraud, Solana allowed developers to plug their technology into its network to build apps and services on top of it. The network was designed to enable up to 50,000 trades per second, making its technology far faster than the more popular Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Solana, developed by the non-profit Solana Foundation, has grown into a top 10 cryptocurrency by market cap, according to Coinmarketcap, valued at around $14bn.

Solana said: “Engineers across several ecosystems, in conjunction with audit and security firms, continue to investigate the root cause of an incident that resulted in approximately 8,000 wallets being drained.”

It added that it did not believe the hack was caused by a bug in Solana’s own code, but by software used in online “wallet” apps where people store cryptocurrency.

Solana’s cryptocurrency, the Sol, has lost about 80pc of its value so far this year. Its network has also suffered multiple outages this year, knocking users offline.