KuCoin Global CEO, Johnny Lyu in a statement disclosed yesterday about a reported hack lately in details after private keys linked to crypto wallets got exposed and might have affected $150 million in user funds.
He added by saying the findings of the internal security audit report, revealed part of Bitcoin, ERC-20, and other tokens in KuCoin’s hot wallets were transferred out of the crypto exchange, which contained few parts of the total assets holdings.
“The assets in the cold wallets are safe and unharmed, and the hot wallets have been re-deployed.”
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However, Cryptoquant an On-chain data/chart provider for investors had a shred of strong evidence showing the crypto exchange might truly be affected.
“It seems Kucoin got hacked.
“Usually, after being hacked, the $BTC outflow increases rapidly and then becomes zero. Since 20:00 UTC on September 25th, the outflow has continuously been zero,” Cryptoquant tweeted.
It seems #Kucoin got hacked.
Usually, after being hacked, the $BTC outflow increases rapidly and then becomes zero. Since 20:00 UTC on September 25th, the outflow has continuously been zero.
Chart: https://t.co/kHsUEzh92C pic.twitter.com/qgycevVsnT
— CryptoQuant (@cryptoquant_com) September 26, 2020
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According to Paolo Ardoino, the Chief Technical Officer at Bitfinex and Tether, the two entities froze $33 million in total.
If the sum of $150 million was hacked, that represents 22% of the lost funds. He said:
“Bitfinex froze 13m Tether USDT on EOS as part of the hack, Tether just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address as a precautionary measure.
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PSA: re #KuCoin hack@bitfinex froze 13M Tether USDt on EOS as part of the hack@Tether_to just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address https://t.co/GYmESH44da as precautionary measure.
Stay safe everyone!
— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) September 26, 2020
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In the official statement, Lyu said KuCoin disclosed it was partnering with major crypto exchanges that included Binance, BitMax OKEx, Huobi, and ByBit. The Kucoin also added it was cooperating with law enforcement agencies on the matter.
At least in the near term, it would make it challenging for hackers to try to move the funds. The CEO said:
“We are in contact with many major crypto exchanges such as Huobi, Binance, OKEx, BitMax, and Bybit, as well as blockchain projects, security agencies, and law enforcement to work on this. Some effective measures have been taken, and we will update with more details soon.”