Crypto Exchange Lost $54 Million Due to Security Breach

Crypto Exchange (CoinEx), one of the world's most prominent crypto exchanges, experienced a massive security breach.

The news sent shock waves across the crypto community after a whooping of $54 million was withdrawn to an unknown wallet address.

On-chain Data Reveals Lost Crypto Assets from CoinEx

Wu Blockchain, with X identity @WuBlockchain, reported an on-chain incident on CoinEx on September 12, 2023, via the X platform.According to the report, CoinEx experienced a shocking security breach from hackers.

The hacking incident resulted in a loss of $54 million in user assets. Wu Blockchain reveals that the crypto assets stolen from the exchange include TRON, ETH, and MATIC of the Polygon network.

It further stated that over $27.8 million of MATIC was withdrawn from the company's hot wallets. The hacking incident drew the attention of different crypto companies, including blockchain security platforms.

A report shows that various blockchain security firms have tagged the illegal withdrawals suspicious". Slow Mist, one of the blockchain security firms, reported that CoinEx lost crypto assets equivalent to $53.96 million.

According to SlowMist, the amount of money stolen by hackers from the CoinEx exchange has increased to 54 million USD.

CoinEx has suspended deposits and withdrawals and will fully compensate all users. #Bitcoin #Ethereum pic.twitter.com/pyIDTqTZ5p

- PhilipCrypto.ETH (@congnguyrn) September 13, 2023

It also shared a list of 15 cryptocurrencies affected by the incident. Some of the stolen assets include Polygon (MATIC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL), Binance Coin (BNB), TRON (TRX), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin (BTC), and many more.

Again, data from Etherscan shows that one of CoinEx's recognized hot wallets recorded a transfer of 4,947 ETH worth $7.9 million when the transfer occurred.

However, the recipient's wallet had no history of previous transactions, implying it was a new address possibly created for the hacking purpose.

It also recorded that within a short time after the ETH transfer, the CoinEx hot wallet transferred several tokens to that address. The subsequent tokens transferred include 2.7 million Graph (GRT) tokens, 29,158 Uniswap, and 408,741 DAI.

Rumors that CoinEx exchange was hacked.

At least from an On-chain perspective we're seeing weird behavior of its ETH reserves.

Almost 5K ETH gone today in an hour and 40K ETH since May.

Reserves are now basically zero ETH.@coinexcom care to comment. pic.twitter.com/APMpI8o71g

- Julio Moreno (@jjcmoreno) September 12, 2023

In a September 12 tweet, Julio Moreno, a head of research at CryptoQuant, expressed his concern over the CoinEx ETH reserve. Moreno stated that nearly 5K ETH went missing on the day of the securing breach, and 40K ETH has gone into thin air since May. As a result, CoinEx's reserves now contain zero ETH.

CoinEx Responds to the Security Breach

Following the hack attack, CoinEx halted withdrawals and deposits to protect itself and its clients from further losses. It confirmed the news of the hack attack but noted that the amount stolen was quite small compared to the total assets in its reserves.

Urgent Notice: Security Incident on CoinEx - Immediate Actions Underway

On September 12, 2023, our Risk Control System detected anomalous withdrawals from several hot wallet addresses used to store CoinEx's exchange assets. Promptly recognizing the gravity of the situation, we...

- CoinEx Global (@coinexcom) September 12, 2023

The exchange ensured users of the resumption of the suspended services after a thorough review of the hacking incident. Again, CoinEx said it set up a special team to investigate the ugly event and promised to refund 100% of losses to all affected users.

The post Crypto Exchange Lost $54 Million Due to Security Breach appeared first on The Tech Report.