Phantom ‘crypto’ wallet update locks users out of iOS wallet

Users of the digital asset wallet Phantom were locked out of their iOS wallets this week following a botched update that reset the apps, forcing the developers to issue an emergency update to rectify the glitch.

Distressed users took to social media to reveal that the wallet’s latest update for iOS was wiping out their wallets. They were then required to recover these wallets using their recovery phrases. Users who hadn’t backed up their phrases lost all access to their wallets.

Some lamented that they had lost hundreds of thousands, which was their life savings, while others pleaded with the developers for assistance in recovering their wallets. However, Phantom is a non-custodial wallet; therefore, it doesn’t store the users’ seed phrases.

Hours later, the developers acknowledged that a “small number” of iOS users were experiencing app resets and called on the affected to use their recovery phrases to restore their wallets. They also revealed that they had released an emergency update to prevent the mishap from affecting any more users.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused, and we’re committed to making sure this won’t happen again,” Phantom noted.

Less than a month ago, Phantom was hit by disruptions that led to hours of downtime. The incident was caused by an airdrop that conducted a stress test on Phantom, but the wallet failed to handle the traffic.

Wallet outages and glitches tend to cause distress in the digital asset world, given the frequency of attacks in which millions of dollars are lost. Just days ago, DeFi platform DeltaPrime was exploited by an attacker who made off with $4.8 million worth of Arbitrum and Avalanche tokens. It was the second attack in as many months; in the September heist, the hackers stole $6 million.

DeltaPrime was just exploited on Avalanche and Arbitrum for a total of (initial estimate) $4.75mm.

With the protocol being paused on both chains, the risk is contained. We will provide updates asap.

— DeltaPrime (@DeltaPrimeDefi) November 11, 2024

In the third quarter of this year, hackers stole $753 million from digital asset holders, bringing the total stolen this year to a staggering $2 billion, cybersecurity firm CertiK revealed in a report last month. The firm says this year is on course to eclipse last year’s stolen funds despite a report by Chainalysis showing that ‘crypto’ crime had declined 20% this year.

However, regulators are getting better at cracking down on these cybercriminals. This week, Indian police arrested a man they allege was behind the $235 million heist of leading local exchange WazirX, which was the second-largest exploit in Q3.

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