Israeli Hackers Botch $90M Blood Money Job: Is Digital currency the New Battleground of Warfare in the 21st Century?

One week into the conflict between Israel and Iran, cyber warfare has officially made its presence felt. The Israeli hacking collective, known as Predatory Sparrow, has taken credit for a $90 million cryptocurrency theft from Iran’s largest digital asset trading platform, Nobitex. The underlying message is political: avoid crossing Israel. The funds were directed to burn addresses, which are wallets that cannot be accessed, rendering the assets permanently lost. In the contemporary era, crypto asset cyberattacks are now integrated into military strategy.

The attack focused on wallets associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Distributed ledger analysts and intelligence sources report that the Israeli hackers extracted over $90 million in digital assets, including BTC, Ethereum, Tether (USDT), and Dogecoin.

Rather than washing the funds or using mixers, the pilfered digital currency was dispatched to inactive wallets. These wallets are unreachable, thus making the assets effectively irretrievable.

Official Statement
Nobitex Safety Incident — June 18, 2025

Earlier today, June 18, Nobitex reported unauthorized entry into parts of its system, specifically impacting our internal communication systems and a segment of our hot digital wallet.

Immediately following this detection, all…

— Nobitex | نوبیتکس (@nobitexmarket) June 18, 2025

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From Trains to Tokens: Predatory Sparrow’s Conflict with Iran Began in 2021

This isn’t the first instance of Predatory Sparrow targeting Iran’s critical infrastructure. In recent times, Israeli hackers have been tied to cyber assaults on Iran’s rail networks, gas stations, and military installations. However, the Nobitex breach illustrates a noteworthy shift: employing cryptocurrency networks as a battleground for geopolitical disputes.

This isn’t the inaugural occasion that Predatory Sparrow has set its sights on Iran. The group, thought to be associated with Israeli cyber objectives, has executed at least five major missions since 2021, progressively evolving from sabotage to explicit financial warfare.

In July 2021, they accessed Iran’s national railway system, causing widespread chaos and issuing phony alerts to mock the regime. By October of that same year, they had disrupted the country’s fuel distribution system, preventing millions from refueling their vehicles, directly impacting daily civilian routines.

The operations became bolder. In 2022, they asserted responsibility for a cyber assault on Iranian steel production facilities, including Mobarakeh Steel Company, one of the largest in the area. Subsequent footage depicted industrial machinery failing and fires igniting, with two civilians managing to flee the flames.

Although they claim to target only state entities, the repercussions of their actions frequently extend beyond governmental structures. Disabling national fuel systems or rail services unavoidably affects the general populace.

The Israeli-associated hacker group Predatory Sparrow has taken credit for breaching two major Iranian banks connected to the military but also heavily utilized by civilians. They assert they have erased their data, which could be disastrous for Iranian society if accurate. https://t.co/02D0kmZxu0

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) June 17, 2025

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Israeli Hackers Intensify Crypto as a Geopolitical Retaliation Tool

Nobitex serves as a significant access point for millions of Iranians, including officials connected to the regime, to engage with decentralized finance. Per Chainalysis, the network has facilitated billions in crypto transactions over the last three years, frequently evading international sanctions. For cyber activists and foreign foes, this positions Nobitex not merely as a financial service but as a prominent political target.

Historically, cyber operations have concentrated on disruption: incapacitating power supplies, leaking confidential documents, or vandalizing websites. Transitioning into DeFi (DeFi), where anonymity, global reach, and minimal regulatory controls provide fresh avenues for political disruption, is now occurring.

This moment may signify the rise of digital currency warfare as a traditional tactic. Unlike standard sanctions or military operations, blockchain-based offensives are more challenging to trace, nearly irreversible, and capable of impacting both nation-states and civilians alike. Financial overseers and cybersecurity professionals are already advocating for new international systems to track and curtail such actions.

For Iran, the forfeiture of $90 million may not cripple the economy, but it lays bare a significant weakness in its digital financial framework.

For the全球, it raises an unsettling question: Is cryptocurrency shaping up to be the new battleground in 21st-century hostilities?

Crypto Hacks Are Advancing: The Risks of Leaving Funds on Exchanges

The recent $90 million theft from Iran’s Nobitex exchange underscores a troubling trend: cyber thefts of cryptocurrency are evolving into geopolitical instruments. This aligns with a broader movement where hacker groups like Lazarus (from North Korea) and Predatory Sparrow exploit decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms for subversion and avoidance of sanctions.

Lazarus alone has pilfered over $1.5 billion in digital currencies, including the massive Ronin Protocol breach. Such attacks are not uncommon: over $2.2 billion in digital currency was stolen in 303 incidents during 2023. Exchanges frequently become primary targets, particularly those that are under-regulated or regional. Even larger platforms such as ByBit have faced safety breaches, although in that instance, it was the exchange’s own funds, not users’ assets, that were compromised.

Bybit hacked for $1.5B in ETH.

401k ETH drained from a cold digital wallet + stETH being dumped on Uniswap.

CEO claims user funds are secure, but Ethereum price is impacted.

Biggest vulnerability breach ever? pic.twitter.com/gyHzBHoJeR

— Autumn Riley (@Autumn_Rileyy) February 21, 2025

This brings to light another vital subject: the crucial need for custody. If an exchange is breached, legal or financial redress may be nonexistent. For serious crypto users, self-custody wallets and hardware storage represent the most secure alternative in a realm where the lines between finance, politics, and digital warfare are increasingly converged.

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