ACTOR Bill Murray lost $185,000 in cryptocurrency earmarked for charity donation after a hacker stole the funds.

The 71-year-old’s Ethereum wallet was targeted on Thursday night after he raised money for non-profit organisation Chive Charities, which supports veterans, first responders, and people with rare medical conditions.

A charity auction saw one person bid 119.2 WETH – about $185,000 – for an exclusive, single-edition Bill Murray NFT, the original physical painting, and the opportunity to have a beer with the comedian Hollywood star himself.

The money made for Chive Charities was stolen just 24 hours after the sale.

An initial 108.03 WETH ($171,500) was taken after hackers made an unauthorised transaction, with a further 1.73 WETH ($2,750) transition then taking place.

The hackers attempted to also steal 800 NFTs from Bill Murray’s collection but failed after the assets were moved to a new account.

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Police have been notified of the incident and crypto security firm Chainalysis has been brought in to help identify those behind the attack.

Gavin Gillas, who set up blockchain firm Project Venkman with Murray, said they acted swiftly once they became aware of the hack.

“We engaged Chainalysis within 10 minutes of learning of the attack last night,” Gillas said.

“They’ll have a bigger report on that, and they’re still investigating all of the threads.”

The money was meant to give financial support to the family of a three-year-old girl named Evelyn who suffers from a rare gene mutation and severe epilepsy.

Only eight other people in the world are thought to live with the condition and Evelyn has been on and off life support on multiple occasions.

The auction’s runner-up has donated 120 ETH to replace the funds stolen in the attack to help pay for Evelyn’s medical care.

If the stolen funds are recovered, they will also be donated to the child’s family.

Hacking is becoming an increasing problem within the crypto community.

In 2021, approximately $3.2billion was stolen according to Chainalysis.

The figure was six times the amount lost to hackers the year before.

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