A significant amount of $150 million in crypto-currency has been stolen from BitMart, a popular crypto-currency exchange. The theft was reported by blockchain security company Peckshield, who revealed that digital assets totaling $196 million were taken in the incident. The hacker responsible for the theft managed to siphon off $96 million from the Binance smart chain and seized $100 million worth of crypto-currencies from the Ethereum blockchain. More than 20 different tokens, including popular ones like Binance, Safemoon, and Shiba Inu, were part of the stolen loot.
In an attempt to cover their tracks, the hacker utilized the DEX aggregator 1inch to exchange the stolen assets with Ethereum before funneling them through the non-custodial privacy solution Tornado Cash. BitMart’s founder and CEO, Sheldon Xia, acknowledged the security breach and attributed it to a stolen private key that compromised two of the exchange’s hot wallets. The cyber-criminals behind the theft successfully withdrew about $150 million in assets from BitMart.
Xia assured users that BitMart would use its own funding to cover the incident and compensate affected users. He also mentioned that the exchange is in talks with various project teams to explore reasonable solutions such as token swaps to mitigate the impact on users’ assets. As a precautionary measure, BitMart has temporarily suspended all withdrawals while they conduct a comprehensive security review.
Xia expressed confidence that deposit and withdrawal functions would gradually resume on December 7, 2021, following the completion of security enhancements. He also announced an upcoming Ask Me Anything session on Telegram scheduled for 8pm EST on Monday to provide more details about the security breach.
Steve Forbes, a government cybersecurity expert at Nominet, highlighted the increasing trend of attackers targeting crypto-currency exchanges, likening these incidents to modern-day bank heists with potentially less risk and effort involved. He emphasized the importance of heightened security measures to safeguard against such cyber threats and mitigate the risk of future attacks on crypto-currency platforms.