CoinEx crypto exchange lost over US$70 million to theft, Lazarus hacker Group suspected
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The cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx halted withdrawals from its platform after a suspected hacker drained a substantial amount of tokens, valued in millions of dollars, from the platform. CoinEx acknowledged the situation and stated that they had detected unusual withdrawals from several hot wallet addresses responsible for storing the exchange's assets.
Initial estimates suggested potential losses of approximately $27 million, encompassing Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRON), and Polygon (MATIC). CoinEx assured users that the amount lost represents only a small fraction of the total assets held by the platform. After a thorough review it was concluded that over US$70 million were stolen.
In response to the breach, CoinEx has temporarily disabled both deposits and withdrawals on the platform to allow their team to thoroughly investigate the incident. The company emphasized that user assets remain secure and untouched, pledging to provide 100% compensation to those affected by the breach.
Researchers strongly believe that the theft of $70 million from the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx was orchestrated by hackers linked to North Korea. Security firms have pointed to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacker collective, as the likely culprit due to various compelling indicators.
Some of the stolen funds were funneled into a crypto wallet previously used by the Lazarus Group to launder stolen assets. Moreover, the hackers utilized an Ethereum blockchain bridge, previously employed by the Lazarus Group, to move the funds. This incident is part of a string of recent crypto heists targeting platforms like Atomic Wallet, CoinsPaid, Alphapo, and Stake.com, with the Lazarus Group being a common suspect.
