The overall cryptocurrency community has taken a liking to the idea of Rare Pepes. Although this is mainly a meme-oriented project, it has somehow become a thing in the world of cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, the RarePepeWallet platform was breached yesterday, and it is unclear if any user funds were stolen. For now, users are advised to move their money to new addresses as quickly as possible.
RarePepeWallet Compromised by Hackers
We have seen various cryptocurrency-related services and platforms receive increased interest from cybercriminals. Given that the value of all cryptocurrencies, assets, and tokens are on the rise right now, there are bound to be even more hacking attempts in the future. For anyone using the RarePepeWallet service, now is a good time to move funds off the platform. It seems this service was compromised yesterday, although the actual breach may date back to last week or earlier.
For the time being, details of this breach are very difficult to come by. We do know the RarePepeWallet service is offline, which seems to indicate that something has gone on behind the scenes. This service is best known as an online wallet which supports Bitcoin, other valuable assets, and digital trading cards based on the Pepe blockchain. It has become a very popular platform over the past few months, but it’s also attracted attention from the wrong crowd, unfortunately.
ATTN: https://t.co/tVuoQNhzo5 was compromised a couple hours ago, if you've used it in the last week I suggest sending all BTC and valuable assets/pepes to a new address controlled by a new passphrase
— Joe Looney (@wasthatawolf) December 11, 2017
Thankfully, it is pretty easy to import one’s RarePepeWallet recovery seed into other existing services. Platforms such as FreeWallet and Counterwallet support the use of these recovery seeds, which is a good thing. It is advised that people move their money from RarePepeWallet to something else, lest they risk their assets getting compromised. No one knows how many wallets have been compromised because of this situation.
Moreover, there has always been an option to run a local version of RarePepeWallet. Users who chose that option from day one will not have any problems whatsoever. It is only the website itself which was affected, although we still don’t know how this was possible. Users must ensure their funds are moved as quickly as possible, since no one can gauge the full impact of this breach right now. What is clear is that online wallet services for crypto-assets will become an increasingly popular target for hackers and other criminals.
This is not the first time the cryptocurrency community has had to deal with attacks on online wallet services, as it has become somewhat of a recurring theme in the world of cryptocurrency. Centralized services are a weak link in this ecosystem, but it’s good to know that individuals can use their RarePepeWallet recovery seeds to move their money to other platforms. Whether or not anyone will do so remains to be seen, though.
All of this further confirms centralized services have no real place in the world of cryptocurrency. While the developer offered an offline solution for anyone interested, most people will always choose convenience over security. We need more decentralized services and solutions running on people’s own devices. This doesn’t just apply to cryptocurrency wallets, mind you, but also to exchanges and other service providers.
