According to reports, after a $100 million attack on Nobitex by a pro-Israel hacker group, the Central Bank of Iran has imposed strict operating hour restrictions on domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.
In a blog post published on June 18 (Wednesday), Chainalysis cited reports indicating that Iranian domestic cryptocurrency exchanges are now restricted to operating between 10 AM and 8 PM.
Andrew Fierman, the Director of National Security Intelligence at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that this curfew may be aimed at effectively responding to further attacks, as "if incidents do not occur in the middle of the night, it is easier to classify and handle security incidents."
According to the exchange, Nobitex was hacked on the morning of June 18.
"Additionally, while the Iranian public uses cryptocurrency exchanges for cross-border transactions, the Iranian regime may wish to impose stricter controls on its citizens' trading activities," he further explained. "This situation is particularly evident during times of heightened geopolitical tension when Iran may face capital flight."
The Central Bank of Iran had previously implemented restrictions on exchanges. In December of last year, the central bank ordered the temporary closure of all cryptocurrency exchanges to prevent the massive exchange of its national currency, the rial, and further devaluation.
Israel launched multiple strikes inside Iran on June 13. Since then, the two countries have been in a state of mutual counteraction.
According to the latest estimates, the assets stolen from Nobitex are valued at least $100 million, involving various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP), and Solana (SOL).
The pro-Israel hacker group Gonjeshke Darande has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, reportedly successfully infiltrating Nobitex's internal systems and draining its hot wallet.
The Chainalysis team noted in the report that the wallets controlled by the attackers appear to be one-time addresses with no private key access, "making it impossible to recover these funds."
"While historically, hacker attacks have almost always been for economic gain, this incident is quite unique as its purpose seems politically motivated, aimed at depriving the regime of funds," Fierman pointed out.
Token destruction means they are permanently removed from circulation. Typically, this is achieved by sending these tokens to an inaccessible wallet address.
The Nobitex communications team released a statement on the X platform on Wednesday, stating that the exchange has cut off all external access to its servers following the hacking incident.
"As part of Nobitex's ongoing response to recent security events, we would like to inform users that the situation is now under control," they stated.
Currently, user access features remain suspended, but the exchange has promised that the Nobitex reserve fund will fully cover all assets lost in this hacking attack.
The Nobitex technical team is clearing the exchange's online hot wallet and transferring funds to offline cold storage devices to prevent further exploitation of security vulnerabilities and asset loss.
"Additionally, due to disruptions in internet connectivity and blocked access to external servers, restoring user access to the platform may take longer than usual," the Nobitex communications team noted.
Chainalysis analysis indicated that by tracking the total inflow of funds to Nobitex, it was found to exceed $11 billion, while the total of the other top ten Iranian exchanges is just below $7.5 billion.
According to Chainalysis research, Nobitex is the preferred platform for Iranian users to enter the global cryptocurrency market and is a cornerstone of the country's digital asset ecosystem.
"Nobitex is not just a local exchange; in Iran's heavily sanctioned crypto ecosystem, it plays a key hub role, providing a gateway to the global market for users who cannot access traditional financial services," Chainalysis commented.
The exchange is also linked to several groups considered terrorist organizations by the Western world, including the Houthis in Yemen, propaganda channels supporting Al-Qaeda, and the sanctioned Russian crypto exchanges Garantex and Bitpapa.
Related: Report: "Crypto-native" asset management firms have seen on-chain holdings grow fourfold since January
Original: “Iran Orders Cryptocurrency Exchanges to Implement Curfew After $100 Million Hack on Nobitex”
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