Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has been the victim of an estimated $27 million attack. The attacker transferred a series of tokens, including ETH, DAI, GRT, UNI, SAND, QRT, MKR to an unknown address, before carrying out various swaps and conducting a series of transfers. CoinEx assures all users affected will be fully refunded
CoinEx victim of a $27 million attack
A complicated start to September for crypto platforms: less than ten days after the $40 million attack on online betting platform Stake, it’s the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx that has suffered a theft, which is currently estimated at $27 million.
The first suspicious transactions were reported by Cyver Alerts, which advised CoinEx to shut down its deposit and withdrawal features:
The attacker began operations with an initial transfer of ETH 4,947 ($7.94 million), before transferring various altcoins including DAI, GRT, UNI, SAND, QRT, MKR and many others via various blockchains. All tokens were sent to the address 0x8bf8cd7F001D0584F98F53a3d82eD0bA498cC3dE, which had never been used before.
The hacker exchanged numerous altcoins for Ether on the decentralised Uniswap protocol, before transferring more than 6,559 ETH ($10.4 million) to the address 0x40cBe7580168d52b7FEC884120B31115c3F7E37E shortly before 9pm on the same day.
Interactions between the attacker’s first wallet and various addresses and protocols
At the end of the day, CoinEx confirmed “abnormal withdrawals” from several of its hot wallets, and also said it had “immediately set up a special investigation team to look into the matter further”.
Preliminary assessments indicate unauthorised transactions involving $ETH, $TRON and $MATIC. The exact amount of the loss is still being determined, and the affected fund represents only a very small portion of CoinEx’s total assets. “
CoinEx also says that individuals who have lost funds as a result of the breach will be fully reimbursed:
We assure all users that their assets are safe and intact. Affected parties will receive 100% compensation for any losses due to this breach. “
Finally, the cryptocurrency exchange assures that a detailed report will be presented soon:
“We solemnly promise that a detailed timeline and full report on this incident will be shared with the community as quickly as possible. [We deeply regret any distress this incident may have caused and assure you of our unwavering dedication to safeguarding your interests.”
