The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in August.
The accused hacker, referred to as “Jane Doe,” allegedly exploited information found online and on the dark web to bypass security measures implemented by Stephens’ cellular network provider. The attack occurred in May, when the hacker gained control of Stephens’ cellular network account and subsequently changed account passwords.
Employing a technique known as a SIM swap attack, the hacker ordered a new phone and transferred Stephens’ private cell phone number to the new device’s SIM card.
This granted the hacker access to reset passwords and circumvent two-factor authentication on undisclosed digital wallets, ultimately leading to the “systematic theft of Plaintiff’s digital assets.”
The FBI issued a warning in 2022 regarding the increasing prevalence of SIM swap attacks, particularly targeting individuals holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrency. The Bureau estimated that these attacks resulted in the theft of $72 million in 2022, up from $68 million in the previous year.
Bart Stephens, who co-founded Blockchain Capital with his brother Brad Stephens in 2013, has been a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency landscape.
The San Francisco-based fund has backed a range of crypto startups, including Worldcoin, Coinbase, Kraken, and Opensea. The incident involving Stephens’ cryptocurrency theft sheds light on the vulnerability of digital assets and the need for heightened security measures within the crypto space.
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