The Chronicles Of The $2 Million Patricia Hack

Here we go again with another hacked story where a FinTech start-up company, Patricia got overwhelmed by a year-long cyberthreat. The chronicles of the Patricia hack tales the discovery of the culprit that bypassed the trading platform security system and got away with millions of the start-up company’s net capital and the original of the bank run syndrome.

According to the FinTech start-up company report, the culprit infiltrated the start-up trading network to access its net capital which left the start-up FinTech liable to the hack. This portrayed a grave impact on the trading platform whereby Patrica’s withdrawal portal was tweaked with restrains to alter the hack investigation.

Patricia reported the security breach in the wake of May which revealed the hack has been active since the previous business year. The culprit’s identity is yet to be revealed which left the trading platform to pend the report in line with its status as a closed case.

The impact of the Patricia hack accelerated its investigation that discovered the culprits stole $2 million and maybe other stolen funds are yet to be reported. This denotes that the case couldn’t remain closed any longer having known the fact that a mere hack always leaves a trail of significant effect.

The Hack Effect

Recall the restraints Patricia tweaked on its withdrawal system is one of the significant effects of the hack that transitioned the FinTech policy. The availability of digital assets such as Bitcoins and fiat currencies such as Naira.

• Users were allowed to deposit funds while the withdrawal portal remained closed.
• The P2P token exchange portal was closed while Patrica offered to buy users’ digital assets.
• The withdrawal restrains were severe from January 2022 then got partially relieved in March 2023.
• Withdrawal restrains birthed bank run syndrome.
• The trading platform got revamped with an accessible withdrawal system.
• The trading platform reactivated withdrawal restrains on April 2023 to date.
• Patricia is yet to restrain the hack.
• Bank run syndrome hovers within the trading platform.

The FinTech start-up company reportedly revamped Patricia as a new trading platform committed to making funds accessible by instant deposit & withdrawal. The withdrawal restraints on the previous Patricia app imbibed the bank run syndrome.

After the bank run prevailed on Patricia, the trading platform was left with a 75 BTC deficit which is equivalent to $2 million. This was also reported in the announcement Patricia reported in the wake of this month. Still, the trading platform is yet to comment on the hack attack, the withdrawal restrains that continues, and clarify if the bank run deficit is the same as the funds hackers stole.

Here’s a breakdown of events surrounding the hack. 

January 2022: Patricia’s platform was compromised in a security breach that siphoned off $2 million in Bitcoin and naira holdings—though the company kept the incident under wraps until the following year blackfacts.com.

May 2023: Under mounting pressure, Patricia froze all customer withdrawals and publicly acknowledged a “security incident,” locking user funds on its Patricia Personal app as it scrambled to assess the damage LinkedInTechpoint Africa.

DLM Trust incident: Shortly thereafter, Patricia announced a reimbursement partnership with DLM Trust to kick off customer repayments—but the agreement was cancelled within 24 hours amid alleged breaches of contract terms, deferring any concrete refund timeline Techpoint Africa.

August 2023: In an effort to restore access, Patricia launched Patricia Plus, converting trapped crypto and fiat balances into its USD-pegged Patricia Token (PTK) stablecoin—only to trigger a “bank run” as users rushed to redeem PTK on the new platform, exposing a critical liquidity crunch LinkedIn.

Investigations & Mismanagement Allegations: The Nigeria Police Force’s Cybercrime Unit has detained politician Wilfred Bonse—accused of orchestrating a ₦607 million hack—and arrested additional suspects tied to a further ₦142.8 million of stolen assets. Ex-employees claim that internal mismanagement (including “ghost” payroll schemes and weak security controls) worsened the fallout Techpoint Africa.

CEO Response: Hanu Fejiro Agbodje has maintained that Patricia “fell victim to a hack and lost a sizeable portion of customer assets,” affirmed ongoing collaboration with law enforcement, and vowed to reimburse users “within two to five years,” even as customers await a clear repayment roadmap

This article was updated on January 2025