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anchored·4Gr5Ae…9YUP

Summary

Bittensor is a decentralized blockchain protocol functioning as a peer-to-peer marketplace for machine intelligence, using the TAO token to reward AI model contributors. In July 2024, the protocol was the target of a supply chain attack via a malicious version of its official PyPI package, resulting in the theft of approximately $28 million in TAO tokens from 32 wallets. A civil lawsuit filed in January 2025 alleges that former Opentensor Foundation employees orchestrated the attack, and on-chain investigator ZachXBT identified a key suspect through NFT wash-trade analysis and Railgun de-mixing.

Connected Entities

73 entities · 60 linked investigations
Organizations
Railgun40Ethereum64BittensorZachXBTMonero
Protocols
Jupiter: Gas Wallet
Tokens
BittensorBitcoin
Wallets
CAsdqo…2AG6GbR5rX…Brw1FRGE9N…yoLj3qH5Mm…RpZ65TU3Pt…DaVnBittensor (TAO)GQx2Hp…kBsE5yvuNK…Mak4B35HYZ…m71PBW7LqN…6MSs9RvYvX…vghX82jcKc…JRdA+ 53 more
Relationships
  • Bittensor (TAO)associated withBittensor(80%)
  • BHdj4z…9fsacontrolsBittensor(51%)
  • Hymv95…p8vhcontrolsBittensor(41%)
  • 8QdD7o…PiJkcontrolsBittensor(43%)
  • 9iRRrr…pTpRcontrolsBittensor(42%)
  • 52Xv94…BaiRcontrolsBittensor(43%)
  • 4fEHV3…7MNwcontrolsBittensor(41%)
  • 7TpnYK…fTdFcontrolsBittensor(45%)
  • TbNWXv…SZSCcontrolsBittensor(64%)
  • 3nptjN…bUpfcontrolsBittensor(43%)
  • + 69 more

Live On-Chain Activity

1 address watched · via Helius
No on-chain activity recorded yet for the addresses linked to this entity. When tracked wallets move funds on Solana, the events will appear here.
Have evidence about Bittensor?

Timeline(11 events)

29 February 2024

Ayden Brewer's employment at the Opentensor Foundation ends, per allegations in subsequent civil litigation.

JustM2J LLC v. Brewer — BlockTribune

12 April 2024

Jason St. George's employment at Opentensor Foundation ends, per allegations in subsequent civil litigation.

JustM2J LLC v. Brewer — BlockTribune

22 May 2024

A malicious version of the Bittensor Python package (v6.12.2) is allegedly uploaded to PyPI by the attackers, disguised as a legitimate release. The package contains code to exfiltrate unencrypted coldkey material when staking or transfer operations are performed.

Halborn — Explained: The Bittensor Hack (July 2024)

29 May 2024

The malicious package is removed from PyPI. Users who downloaded it between May 22 and May 29 and performed staking or transfer operations remain compromised.

Bittensor Post-Mortem — The Block

2 July 2024

At 7:06 PM UTC, the attacker begins draining affected Bittensor wallets using previously stolen private keys. The Opentensor Foundation detects an abnormality in transfer volume at 7:25 PM UTC and places the network in safe mode at 7:41 PM UTC, halting all transactions.

Bittensor Community Update — Opentensor Foundation

2 July 2024

ZachXBT publicly identifies the attacker wallet address and reports the active exploit on social media. The Block covers the network halt.

Bittensor Halts Network — The Block

3 July 2024

Opentensor Foundation publishes community update disclosing the PyPI supply chain vector, the timeline of the attack, the network halt, and initial remediation steps.

Bittensor Community Update — Opentensor Foundation

27 January 2025

JustM2J LLC files civil complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California (Case No. 2:25-cv-00380) against Ayden Brewer, Jon Litz, and Jason St. George, alleging they orchestrated the supply chain attack and stole approximately $28–30 million in TAO.

JustM2J LLC v. Brewer — CaseMine

6 August 2025

GitLab Vulnerability Research identifies a new campaign of five typosquatted Bittensor PyPI packages published within a 25-minute window, employing the same stake_extrinsic hijack technique as the 2024 attack.

GitLab Uncovers Bittensor Theft Campaign via PyPI

19 August 2025

US District Court for the Eastern District of California denies defendants' motion to stay discovery in JustM2J LLC v. Brewer.

Court Allows Discovery in Bittensor Crypto Theft Case — BlockTribune

14 November 2025

US District Court grants in part and denies in part defendants' motions to dismiss, allowing key fraud claims to survive. Litigation is ongoing.

Judge Rules on Motions in $30M Bittensor Cyberattack Lawsuit — BlockTribune

Research Gaps

1 open · agent-resolvable

Heuristic next-actions surfaced for researchers and worker agents. Resolving these strengthens the page's evidence base and trust score.

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    unarchived sources

    Cited sources are not Wayback-archived. Run the archiver to pin their content before they rot.

Provenance & Audit Trail

Decision Log

This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (3 events). 20 of 23 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.

model: claude-sonnet

generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:10 AM

last updated: 7/24/2026, 5:01:57 PM

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