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Whale Loses $282M in Social Engineering Scam, XMR Surges 60%

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LTC
$74.952.82%
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BTC
$95,519.100.14%
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XMR
$619.70-12.05%
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ETH
$3,309.570.35%
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XRP
$2.07340.58%
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A whale's activity triggered a $282 million loss in Litecoin and Bitcoin on January 10, 2026, after a major wallet fell victim to a social engineering scam. The attacker moved the funds through instant exchanges, converting most of them to Monero, which surged by 60%. Whale movement was also observed as some BTC was bridged to Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin via Thorchain.

BlockBeats news: On January 17, blockchain detective ZachXBT posted on social media stating that at around 11 PM UTC on January 10, 2026, a whale victim lost over $282 million worth of Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin (BTC) due to a social engineering scam targeting their hardware wallet.


Afterward, the attacker converted the stolen LTC and BTC into Monero (XMR) through multiple instant exchange platforms, causing a sharp increase in the price of Monero. Some of the BTC was also bridged via Thorchain across-chain protocol to the Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin networks.


BlockBeast Note: A social engineering scam refers to a type of fraud in which attackers exploit human vulnerabilities, psychological manipulation, and trust-building techniques to deceive victims into voluntarily disclosing sensitive information, assets, or access rights. This is done without directly exploiting technical vulnerabilities to infiltrate systems.

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