In a rapid move, the Central Bank of Iran has imposed a curfew on crypto trading following the hack on Nobitex, one of the leading crypto exchanges in the country. Nobitex underwent exploitation after hackers stole over $100 million.
Why did Iran limit the operating hours?
According to reports by blockchain data platform Chainalysis, domestic crypto exchanges in the country are now confined to operating between 10 am and 8 pm. The analytics platform also opined that the trading limitation is intended to further monitor any future attacks, and it is much easier for the security forces to check any suspicious activities during the operating hours.
Another possible reason for the curfew on operating hours could be that the Iranian regime prefers to control cross-border crypto transactions by its citizens, particularly as geopolitical tension is escalating in the region.
What did the hackers do?
Gonjeshke Darande, who is possibly a pro-Israeli hacker, has claimed responsibility for exploiting the Iranian crypto exchange. “In 24 hours, we will release Nobitex’s source code and internal information from their internal network. Any assets that remain there after that point will be at risk!”, wrote Darande in an X post. The stolen cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Solana, and XRP.
On June 18, Nobitex informed the X audience about the security incident, stating that the platform has isolated the network, migrated hot wallets, assessed the funds affected, cooperated with Iranian government authorities, and more. A recent post by the Nobitex communication team read that they anticipate a phased and secure restoration of services within the next 4 to 5 days.
Iran and Israel have been going through a war, which has intensified last week, putting stocks and crypto markets in pain. It is at this peak time, hackers stole millions of dollars worth of crypto from Nobitex, and since then, the incident has become a topic of discussion across various news platforms.
