On Aug 19, 2025 a victim fell for a social engineering scam and lost 783 BTC ($91M) after exchange and hardware wallet customer support were impersonated.
The stolen funds began to peel off and deposits to Wasabi were made by the threat actor.
Coincidentally this theft… pic.twitter.com/gglShNo2UC
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 21, 2025
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The surge in social media chatter around the highly anticipated US Federal Reserve September interest rate decision could be a warning sign for crypto, says sentiment platform Santiment.
It comes after the crypto market rallied on Friday and market sentiment returned to greed following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish remarks at the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium. He hinted that the first rate cut of 2025 could come in September.
“Historically, such a massive spike in discussion around a single bullish narrative can indicate that euphoria is getting too high and may signal a local top,” Santiment said in a report on Saturday. The firm said that social media mentions of keywords tied to the Fed and interest rate cuts have jumped to their highest level in 11 months.
“While optimism about a rate cut is fueling the market, social data suggests caution is warranted,” Santiment said.
Santiment has detected an increase in mentions of the keywords: Fed, rate, cut, and Powell. Source: Santiment
Powell said during his speech on Friday that current conditions in inflation and the labor market “may warrant adjusting” the Fed’s monetary policy stance. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, 75% of market participants expect a rate cut at the September meeting.
Many crypto analysts have based their crypto market forecasts on the Fed’s decisions throughout this year. While some see a rate cut as a potential bullish catalyst, others are divided on the outcome.
Source: Coinbase Institutional
After Powell’s speech, crypto trader Ash Crypto said, “the Fed will start the money printers in Q4 of this year,” along with two rate cuts, which means “trillions will flow into the crypto market.”
“We are about to enter parabolic phase where Altcoins will explode 10x -50x,” Ash Crypto said.
Others suggest that the crypto market may not immediately see the impact of a Fed rate cut.
On April 11, 10x Research head of research Markus Thielen said, “Expecting a bullish impulse is too early.” He said that while a longer-term price opportunity for Bitcoin (BTC) could emerge, it may face short-term pressure driven by recession fears.
Related: BTC climbed to 1.7% of global money before Fed chair signaled rate cut
Meanwhile, some say that if the Fed takes no action this year, it could lead to headwinds for the crypto market.
On March 9, network economist Timothy Peterson warned that if the Fed holds off on rate cuts in 2025, it may cause a broader crypto market downturn.
Magazine: Can privacy survive in US crypto policy after Roman Storm’s conviction?
Binance has warned its users about scammers after a victim lost $91 million in a similar attack.
Summary
Scammers are increasingly relying on human error to steal funds. On August 21, crypto investigator ZachXBT reported that one user lost $91 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to a social engineering scam.
On Aug 19, 2025 a victim fell for a social engineering scam and lost 783 BTC ($91M) after exchange and hardware wallet customer support were impersonated.
The stolen funds began to peel off and deposits to Wasabi were made by the threat actor.
Coincidentally this theft… pic.twitter.com/gglShNo2UC
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 21, 2025
According to the investigator, the attack, which happened on August 19, was a social engineering scam. Scammers impersonated both the victim’s crypto exchange and hardware wallet support via text messages.
They used this fabricated trust to get the victim to share critical information, which gave the attackers control over the funds.
ZachXBT did not reveal which exchange the attackers targeted. However, following the attack, Chinese crypto reporter Colin Wu reported that Binance issued a warning about the same type of scams to its users.
Binance: Scammers are sending fake SMS messages pretending to be from Binance. They want to trick you by saying your account is “at risk” and make you call fake support telephone numbers or click dangerous links. Binance will never reach out directly via SMS or phone calls. If… pic.twitter.com/IZtYb5c9Zk
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 21, 2025
According to Binance, attackers send unsolicited text messages to users, pretending to be from the exchange. Typically, these scams try to make it seem that the user’s account is at risk.
For instance, the messages will warn users that a new device from an unknown location has logged into their accounts. Similarly, the text messages also warn about supposed transfers.
In all cases, attackers prompt users to either call the “support” number or log into a fake website. From there, they are asked to share account information, enabling scammers to take over their wallets.
According to Hacken, social engineering scams led to $600 million in losses in the first half of 2025. This was about 19% of all losses across crypto platforms in the same period.