According to Cointelegraph’s report, popular cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx witnessed an unusual surge of outflows totaling an estimated $27 million to an unfamiliar address, prompting concerns among security experts that the exchange may have fallen victim to a hacking incident.
At precisely 1:21 pm UTC, a well-known CoinEx hot wallet executed a transfer of approximately 4,947 Ether (ETH), valued at $7.9 million at the time, to an Ethereum account devoid of any transaction history.
Shortly following this initial transaction, the CoinEx hot wallet initiated a series of substantial token transfers to the same address. Among the tokens involved were 408,741 units of the Dai (DAI) stablecoin, 2.7 million Graph (GRT) tokens, and 29,158 Uniswap (UNI) tokens, along with several other tokens.
Leading blockchain security firm PeckShield promptly raised an alarm, deeming the outflow as “suspicious.” CryptoQuant’s Head of Research, Julio Moreno, echoed these concerns, highlighting the peculiar behavior of the CoinEx wallet and noting that Ether reserves had been effectively depleted.
CoinEx took to Twitter at 5:25 pm UTC to confirm the unsettling development, stating, “[O]ur Risk Control System detected anomalous withdrawals from several hot wallet addresses used to store CoinEx’s exchange assets.” The exchange also disclosed that a dedicated investigative team had been mobilized to ascertain the details surrounding the incident.
Furthermore, CoinEx assured its users that the compromised crypto accounts for only a fraction of the exchange’s overall reserves and pledged complete reimbursement for any losses incurred due to this breach.
The incident has sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community, prompting renewed discussions about the importance of security measures in the fast-evolving world of digital assets. As investigations unfold, the crypto industry holds its collective breath, awaiting further updates on this significant security breach.
