KuCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore has reported a hack, that eventually emptied all its hot wallets. It said a hacker has started withdrawing various cryptocurrencies from its exchange starting the early September 26th, and have stolen all of them. While it didn’t affect any of its cold wallets, the loss from hot wallets is estimated to be around $150 million!
$150 Million Worth Cryptocurrencies!
Cryptocurrency exchanges are often targeted by hackers due to their lucrative means. Exchanges maintain two types of wallets to store the cryptocurrencies – Hot and Cold. While the cold wallet is offline and kept away securely, hot wallets contain cryptocurrencies for making the market liquid.
All the cryptocurrencies in transactions or order books got into the hot wallet, which the exchange deploys to a user’s account when the deal is made. Since they need to be online and open to rollout into orders, hackers target them for quick money. Now, as a recent incident, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange called KuCoin has reported a hack.
In a statement released on September 26th morning, the exchange said that it “detected some large withdrawals since September 26, 2020, at 03:05:37 (UTC+8).” Later, from the internal security audit, it found that someone has transferred cryptocurrency fund like Bitcoin, ERC-20 and other tokens out of the exchange.
It assured that cold wallets have not to tampered in this incident, and the affected hot wallets have been re-deployed. While it’s investigating the cause of this issue, it pledged to cover any lost funds from users’ wallets with its insurance fund and cold wallet balances.
Also, it’s now conducting a security review, where it suspended the deposit and withdrawals of funds until ends. Also, it said to conduct a Livestream with its CEO Johnny Lyu on 12:30 (UTC+8), September 26, 2020, to inform more details. It also made a form for users who’re having questions to be asked. Learn more about the KuCoin updated report.
