U.S. Retiree Loses $3M in XRP later than Ellipal Wallet Hack
A North Carolina retiree has reported the theft of 1.2 million , valued at approximately $3.05 million, from his Ellipal .
The incident occurred on October 12, 2025, and was discovered three days later when the investor checked his wallet on October 15 and found the funds missing.
Brandon LaRoque, the victim, said, “I’ve been accumulating XRP for the past eight years. I’ve accumulated over 1.2 million XRP, which is worth over three million dollars now.”
In a YouTube video explaining the hack, LaRoque said the theft didn’t occur in a single transaction but involved two smaller transactions followed by a large one.
The 54-year-old added, “They sent it to one wallet that had just been created a few minutes earlier, and then they turned around and sent that 1,290,000 XRP out to about 30 diverse wallets.”
Further details revealed that the hackers carefully covered their tracks. LaRoque noted that the stolen funds were moved through to make tracing nahead impossible, adding that the transactions had passed through “somewhere between 500 and 900 wallets.”
He said efforts to contact law enforcement have been frustrating, as he has yet to receive any response.
LaRoque shared his experience to warn others about the risks associated with self-custody and to viewk advice, admitting that the chances of recovery are slim.
Blockchain Investigator Traces the Hack
Blockchain investigator and on-chain sleuth ZachXBT as they moved through several cross-chain bridges before being laundered through over-the-counter (OTC) networks linked to Huione—a platform previously flagged by authorities for processing illicit funds.
The funds were consolidated into a single Tron address before being dispersed across multiple OTC venues.
LaRoque, who had been accumulating XRP since 2017, described the loss as devastating, noting that the stolen tokens represented his life savings.
Ellipal stated that the wallet was compromised later than the Secret key was imported into a mobile application, effectively converting the cold wallet into a hot wallet and exposing it to online threats.
According to ZachXBT, the hack was facilitated through Huione, which he said “has a history of enabling frauds and scams such as this.”
He added, “Last week, the U.S. applied additional restrictions against Huione in relation to the $15 billion Prince Group seizure and sanctions.”
ZachXBT said the victim is unlikely to recover the funds, citing delays in reporting the theft.
“Unfortunately, the likelihood of this victim viewing any funds recovered is rather low due to a delay in reporting the theft to competent people within the private sector,” he said.
