Crypto Exchange CoinEx Suffers A $27 Million Attack, Reassures Users of Full Refund
On Tuesday, September 12, crypto exchange CoinEx experience significantly large outflows to an address having no prior history. Many leading security experts believe that the exchange suffered a major hack with blockchain security platforms reporting losses to be anywhere north of $27 million.
Around 1:21 pm UTC, a recognized CoinEx hot wallet initiated a transfer of about 4,947 Ether (ETH), valued at $7.9 million during that time, to an Ethereum account. Notably, this recipient account had no prior transaction history.
Immediately following this initial transaction, the CoinEx hot wallet commenced sizable transfers of various tokens to the same destination address. These included approximately 408,741 Dai (DAI) stablecoins, 2.7 million Graph (GRT) tokens, 29,158 Uniswap (UNI) tokens, as well as several other tokens.
The specific cold wallet (0xf54…7E5d) in question presently contains assets amounting to $89 million, with the majority being in the form of ETH ($51.7 million) and USD ($18.23 million). Although no official statement has been released regarding this matter, experts within the industry are emphasizing the importance of implementing robust security measures to mitigate the risk of future incidents.
In a long message on Twitter, crypto exchange CoinEx confirmed regarding the suspicious withdrawals. The exchange stated that “[O]ur Risk Control System detected anomalous withdrawals from several hot wallet addresses used to store CoinEx’s exchange assets”.
It further added that they have appointed a special investigative team to determine actually what happened. Additionally, CoinEx has reassured investors that it would issue 100% refund to all the affected parties.
The message from CoinEx reads: “We assure all users: your assets are secure and untouched. Affected parties will receive 100% compensation for any loss due to this breach. For added security, deposit & withdrawal services are temporarily suspended and will resume after a thorough review”.
The exchange added that it would be releasing a comprehensive report about this incident to all community members as quickly as possible. Despite encountering challenges resulting from a recent hacking incident, CoinEx remains resolute in pursuing its growth objectives. Since its establishment in 2017, the exchange has demonstrated consistent expansion, serving both seasoned traders and novices. However, it has also faced legal action from a New York state attorney concerning business registration violations.
CoinEx has embarked on a path to foster a robust cryptocurrency trading ecosystem, exemplified by its recent partnership with a Web3 conference. This collaboration underscores CoinEx's commitment to delivering top-tier trading experiences to users from diverse backgrounds. While this partnership marks a positive development for the platform, the resolution of the hacking incident will significantly impact its long-term reputation.
This juncture presents CoinEx with the challenge of striking a balance between security concerns and ambitious expansion strategies. With potentially millions in assets at risk, the exchange is under pressure to bolster platform security and maintain the trust of its extensive user base.