Crypto heavyweight Chris Larsen watched helplessly as hackers swiped a staggering 283 million XRP tokens—worth $150 million—from his personal wallets in January 2024. No, not Ripple’s corporate funds. Just his personal stash. Still hurts.
The culprit? Those pesky LastPass breaches from 2022. Turns out storing your crypto keys in a compromised password manager isn’t the best idea. Who knew? Larsen had stored his private keys in LastPass and even destroyed the physical records afterward. Talk about putting all your eggs in one digital basket.
Using LastPass for crypto keys and destroying backup records—a masterclass in digital overconfidence.
LastPass suffered two major security incidents in 2022. First in August, when attackers accessed their development environment. Then in November, when they hit the jackpot—customer data from cloud storage. Encrypted and unencrypted goodies for the taking. Your security? Only as good as your master password.
The hackers didn’t waste time. They compromised at least four devices with vault access and quickly laundered the stolen XRP through various exchanges. Fast work. Almost impressive, if it weren’t so criminal.
Larsen’s team sprang into action, contacting exchanges to freeze the stolen funds. Law enforcement jumped on the case, with the FBI investigating the LastPass connection. Binance managed to freeze $4.2 million worth of the stolen XRP. Better than nothing.
This theft wasn’t isolated. It’s part of a $250 million crime spree linked to the LastPass breach. Multiple victims, multiple heartaches. Password managers suddenly looking less secure by the minute.
The recovery efforts have had some success. U.S. authorities seized over $23 million in stolen crypto between June 2024 and February 2025, tracking funds across various exchanges. The Justice Department filed a forfeiture complaint. Still, most of the loot remains missing. Today, those 283 million XRP would be worth an astounding over $707 million due to market fluctuations.
The lesson? Digital security is complicated. Very complicated. And storing crypto keys digitally comes with serious risks. This incident highlights why many experts recommend using cold wallets for storing significant cryptocurrency amounts, as they remain offline and protected from internet-based attacks. Sometimes the old ways—like a piece of paper locked in a safe—don’t seem so primitive after all.
