Hackers Stole Nearly $200 Million From Crypto Exchange Bitmart
It appears some of the extensive outflows witnessed over the weekend across crypto markets was partly attributed to a hack on crypto exchange Bitmart.
According to an official statement released Saturday, Bitmart confirmed it suffered a major security breach which saw hackers take off with approximately $150 million in cryptocurrencies. The hack was first noticed by blockchain security and data analytics company Peckshield over the weekend, which pointed out outflows of tens of millions of dollars to a address called “Bitmart Hacker.”
However, according to Peckshield, the losses were substantially higher, with hackers stealing about $100 million worth of digital currencies on the ethereum blockchain, and another $96 million from the binance smart chain. They ended up taking a total of 20 various tokens, including shiba inu, binance coin, and safemoon.
Bitmart initially called the reports of the hack fake news, and instead attributed the sudden outflows to routine withdrawals. But, several hours later, Bitsmart CEO Sheldon Xia confirmed that the crypto exchange did indeed suffer a hack, after a stolen private key caused two of Bitmart’s hot wallets to become compromised.
On Monday, Bitmart announced via twitter that an initial security check has identified the affected assets, with plans currently underway to reimburse users that had their tokens stolen from Bitmart’s funds.
Information for this briefing was found via twitter and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.