On the surface, it looked like just another day. But for one crypto investor in Cyprus, June 11, 2025, would become a financial nightmare.
Over $448,000 worth of Bitcoin, Ether, and other digital assets vanished from his wallet in a matter of hours, not because of an exploit, but because someone gained access to his email.
This wasn’t a smart contract bug. It wasn’t a rug pull. It was a silent breach that exposed a deeper issue in crypto – most users still rely on centralized exchanges and custodial wallets, leaving their assets vulnerable to the most common method of attack: email.
How Did The Hack Happen?
According to official reports, the investor’s email was compromised through an as-yet-unknown method, likely poor password hygiene, phishing or social engineering.
The attackers didn’t exploit any blockchain vulnerability. They simply used his inbox to recover exchange logins and authorize fund transfers from custodial wallets.
Within hours, approximately €381,000 (or $448,000) was transferred out of his account. The funds were gone long before the victim realized what had happened.
Worse still, the incident wasn’t reported to authorities until more than a month later, making any hope of recovery slim to none.
Why Email Is the Weakest Link
Most users don’t realize how tightly their email is connected to their financial lives. If you store crypto on a centralized exchange, a compromised inbox is often enough to take full control of your funds.
It’s not just password resets. It’s two-factor prompts, recovery confirmations, and device authorizations, all of which are routed through the same email inbox most people leave logged in across multiple devices.
What Self-Custody Could Have Changed
Had the victim stored his funds in a secure, self-custody wallet this entire event could have been prevented.
A self-custody wallet doesn’t rely on exchange logins or email. Just a private key that only the owner controls.
With self-custody, even if someone gains access to your inbox, they still can’t touch your assets. That separation of access is the strongest layer of defense crypto offers and it’s only available to those who hold their own keys.
Prevention Is Everything
The Cyprus case isn’t isolated. Although crypto exchanges are the main target for hackers, personal wallet breaches now account for nearly a quarter of all crypto thefts in 2025, according to Chainalysis.
Attackers are no longer going after just exchanges; they’re also targeting people. And the only effective defense is to remove as many points of failure as possible.
That starts with not storing your assets on exchanges. Not relying on email-linked exchanges. And most importantly, taking full ownership of your crypto with self-custody.
Own Your Keys, or Risk Losing Everything
Crypto gives you the tools to be your own bank, but it also means you’re your own security team. The Cyprus investor lost nearly half a million dollars not because he made a bad trade, but because he trusted the wrong systems.
Safe Crypto Exchanges
The latest report of an email hack draining an investor’s wallet underscores just how sophisticated centralized-induced phishing threats have become, and why the market-wide shift towards secure, self-custody tools is gaining urgency.
Among the respected names in this category that more and more crypto users are gravitating towards is Best Wallet, a no-KYC, feature-packed Web3 wallet. As per the latest data, Best Wallet already has over 500k total users, with over 50% MoM growth rate in app installations on both Google Play Store and Apple Store.
What truly sets Best Wallet apart? It’s building an all-in-one hub for everything crypto, without compromising on security, privacy, or convenience. In terms of security, Best Wallet’s non-custodial posture ensures that users do not need email signups or identity checks to access their funds, making it immune to centralized-like data breaches.
Adding an extra layer of security is its integration with Fireblocks, which leverages non-custodial MPC to ensure there’s no single point of failure that cyber attackers can exploit. Other modern security features like secure passcodes, two-factor authentication, regular security updates, and many more also keep users and their funds protected against unauthorized access.
However, despite its security-focused design, Best Wallet prioritizes simplicity. Its intuitive interface is purpose-built to help both beginners and seasoned investors dive into the electrifying realm of crypto trading and grow their assets effortlessly.
Unlike traditional chain-specific wallets, Best Wallet stands out as a multichain product, supporting major blockchains including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Base, and Polygon at press time. And if its roadmap is any guide, it will soon integrate Solana, XRP, TON, and other networks, allowing users to buy, trade, swap, and even store thousands of tokens without creating another wallet.
Best Wallet’s multichain posture also means users will be able to find many staking options with competitive APYs and execute cross-chain swaps almost instantly, and with minimal friction.
There’s also a token launchpad built within the facility to give investors a significant competitive edge heading into the upcoming bull market, allowing them to discover and invest in value before it trends.
And as one of the few wallets that strike the perfect balance between security, features, and ease of use, it’s no surprise that many publications, including the New York Post and Money, are endorsing it as the best option to buy Bitcoin in 2025.
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