Cryptocurrency Theft of $4 Million from Mask Network Founder on His Birthday

Over $4 million in digital assets were stolen from the wallet of Mask Network founder Suji Yan on his 29th birthday.

I turned 29 yrs old today, 6 hours ago. Around 3 hours ago — one of my public wallet I carried on my phone was hacked and 4m$+ assets was stolen. All the stolen tx seems manual and span 11+ mins.

So either the private key was leaked same day as my birthday and hacker manual tsf… https://t.co/SkuIb2nrPf

— Suji Yan — Mask is BUIDLing (@suji_yan) February 27, 2025

Suspicious activity linked to the entrepreneur’s account was noted by Cyvers Alerts. According to experts, the perpetrator immediately converted the stolen coins into Ethereum (ETH) and distributed them across six addresses.

Yan noted that transactions from his mobile wallet appeared to be conducted manually and took just over 11 minutes.

He speculated that the hacker somehow obtained his private key. However, it could have been an offline attack, as he left his phone unattended during the birthday party.

“I trust my friends, but this is a nightmare for anyone,” Yan wrote.

The entrepreneur contacted the SlowMist team and on-chain detective ZachXBT for assistance in the investigation. He also reached out to law enforcement.

In case the theft was carried out through his smartphone, Yan invited the thief to contact him personally.

“Cryptocurrency is not a dark forest, and I will not let this happen,” he emphasized.

In February, the damage to industry projects from hacks amounted to $1.53 billion, which is 20 times more than the previous month, according to Immunefi. Of this amount, $1.46 billion accounts for losses at Bybit exchange due to an attack by hackers from the Lazarus Group.