On June 22, hackers attacked BtcTurk. The Turkish cryptocurrency exchange has suspended deposits and asset withdrawals until the investigation of the incident is completed.
According to the platform's statement, the attackers gained access to the hot wallets of 10 different cryptocurrencies. The exchange remains solvent. Cold wallets with most assets are safe.
Chinese journalist Colin Wu reported on Avalanche (AVAX) tokens sold in the amount of $54 million. Earlier, the VeriDelisi researcher identified the address from which the assets were initially transferred as belonging to BtcTurk.
Today, 54 million USD of AVAX was sold. The AVAX at 0x32...4f30 originated from the transfer of X-avax1qsnptt6yxnwmh8up7xn5u3sajz37lmyv8u3dmu on the Avalanche-X chain. @VeriDelisi believes that this address is the address of a Turkish exchange. https://t.co/9vlyQuMXXy
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 22, 2024According to online sleuth ZachXBT, losses amounted to at least 1.96 million AVAX ($54.2 million).
Just shared on Telegram that this entity withdrew $46M+ worth of BTC from Coinbase/Binance after those AVAX depositshttps://t.co/aONZbESvre
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 22, 2024He recorded a withdrawal of 587.75 BTC ($38.1 million) from Coinbase and 122.66 BTC ($7.95 million) from Binance shortly after AVAX deposits on cryptocurrency exchanges.
ZachXBT also reported the likely hacking of the online casino Sportsbet worth more than $3.5 million by the same hacker, as the funds from these attacks were mixed.
Binance CEO Richard Teng announced the freezing of stolen funds in the amount of $5.3 million and BtcTurk's assistance in the investigation.
Binance is assisting BtcTurk with investigations and have frozen over $5.3M in stolen funds so far.
Our investigations & security teams work around the clock as part of our proactive efforts to protect the ecosystem from bad actors. We will provide further updates as relevant. https://t.co/8j6uMgOPm6
After the hack, the price of AVAX dropped by 10%, from $27.2 to $24.5. At the time of writing, the coin has recovered to $25.7.
The AVAX/USDT hourly chart of the Binance exchange. Data: TradingView.Earlier, bug hunters withdrew $3 million from the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange due to an "extremely critical" vulnerability. The blockchain security company CertiK has revealed its involvement in the "white" hacking.
Recall that in June, the British cryptocurrency exchange Lykke curtailed all operations due to a "security incident" that led to the loss of $22 million.