On-chain sleuths estimate crypto exchange CoinEX hot wallets have been drained of $27 million worth of crypto in a suspected hack.
Posted September 12, 2023 at 3:34 pm EST.
Crypto exchange CoinEx confirmed that “anomalous” withdrawals from its hot wallets occurred following reports from on-chain sleuths that $27 million worth of crypto had been drained from its known wallets.
On X, the exchange did not confirm the total amount lost but said the “affected fund is just a very small portion of CoinEx’s total assets” and that affected parties will receive 100% compensation in response to the breach.
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 alerts system for blockchain security platform Cyvers highlighted the suspicious transactions, estimating losses of $27 million worth of crypto. Its preliminary analysis said the stolen funds were in polygon (MATIC), ether (ETH) and tron (TRN), which was later also confirmed by the exchange on X.
The attack was identified by Cvyers because a known CoinEx hot wallet started transferring a significant amount of tokens to a wallet address it hadn’t interacted with before. Blockchain security firm Peckshield also alerted the crypto community, calling the outflows “suspicious.”
Hi @coinexcom, suspicious outflow of large funds from #coinex hot wallets. https://t.co/C1kCcdnIRQ
— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) September 12, 2023
CoinEx is a global crypto exchange that was founded in 2017 and is based in Hong Kong. It stopped operating in the US earlier this year as a result of a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, which accused the exchange of failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and for falsely representing itself as a crypto exchange.
The exchange shared on X that it had identified and isolated the suspicious wallet addresses linked to the attack and urged other crypto exchanges and wallets to stay vigilant to any activity linked to the addresses.
CoinEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
