Fantom’s ‘Foundation Wallets’ drained for $550K

The exact cause relating to the compromised wallets remains unknown, though the company confirmed the funds lost by the employee are being “tracked and investigated”

article-image

Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The Fantom Foundation confirmed Tuesday that a “small number” of its wallets had been compromised, with losses amounting to roughly $550,000. 

Around 99% of the Foundation’s funds reportedly remain untouched and secure, the company said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Based on those figures, the remainder of its $55 million treasury remains unaffected.

Preliminary investigations have brought to light possible vulnerabilities via a zero-day hack in Google Chrome. However, the exact cause and mechanism of the breach remain under scrutiny, Fantom said.

Blockworks has reached out for clarification but has so far received no response.

While the affected wallets bore the label “Foundation Wallets,” they had previously been transitioned away from organizational use. 

These wallets were under the management of a Fantom employee, suggesting a more targeted nature to the attack rather than a broad sweep, the company said.

“A Fantom employee’s personal wallets were compromised. Some of these impacted wallets were labeled “Foundation Wallets”, but they were no longer being utilized by the organization and had been reassigned to a Fantom employee, making this a targeted personal attack,” it said. 

Read more: Upbit updates cold wallet policy in bid to thwart hackers

While the Foundation’s attempted to demonstrate confidence in the safety of its primary funds, some eyebrows are being raised considering the targeted nature of the breach and the security of reassigning foundation wallets to employees. 

Reassigned wallets, especially those under the purview of employees, should ideally have rigorous security measures in place, prompting questions about internal security protocols.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Monad SR Report Graphic.png

Research

Monad is a new Layer 1 blockchain designed as a high performance, EVM-compatible platform.

article-image

Engineers from MetaMask, Coinbase, Google, and the Ethereum Foundation make the case for onchain AI agents via ERC-8004

article-image

Legacy payments firm partners with Anchorage Digital to issue a dollar-pegged token under new US stablecoin law

by Blockworks /
article-image

As Solana ETFs launch but network REV trends lower, Jito sits at the intersection of new capital inflows and microstructure improvements

article-image

The Truth Social parent will integrate Crypto.com Derivatives North America, allowing users to trade prediction contracts under federal oversight

by Blockworks /
article-image

Partnership surpasses $2 billion in staked assets and adds support for new Proof-of-Stake networks

by Blockworks /
article-image

The tokenization leader will merge with Cantor Equity Partners II, becoming the first public firm focused on securities tokenization

by Blockworks /