Crypto exchange Huobi Global, newly branded HTX, was hacked and hackers were able to drain $7.9 million from its wallet. According to crypto security firm CyberAlerts, the attackers compromised one of the HTX's hot wallets in some way and then stole 5,000 ETH worth around $7.9 million.
HTX sent a message to the attackers in Chinese quickly noticing the hacks and stealing the funds from its wallet. In the message, they offered the attackers to keep 5% as a white hat bonus and return the rest of the stolen funds. This offer is available for seven days. It was also mentioned that the exchange knows the attackers' identity. HTX will take legal action if 95% funds are not returned.
Tron founder Justin Sun tweeted about this hack on social media X. He said that users' funds are safe. The exchange has fully covered the losses and it operates normally. Besides offering the hackers a 5% white hat bonus, HTX also offered to hire hackers as security white hat advisors for the exchange, according to Justin Sun's tweet.
Justin Sun said in his tweet that $8 million in stolen crypto assets is a small amount compared to the large crypto exchanges like HTX. And it is just two weeks' revenue for the exchange. HTX can make a lot of money. Hacking the exchange's hot wallet shows the vulnerability of the exchange.
The stolen fund is small, but people consider this seriously because it could be a big amount in the future. It can make users uncomfortable to trade in the exchange. No one likes to take the risk of losing their crypto while buying and trading. Recently hackers hacked the decentralized peer-to-peer network Mixin Network and stole $200 million worth of crypto assets.
In case the crypto exchange is hacked and unable to operate its business, users suffer the most. The exchange files for bankruptcy to settle the issue. Users have to worry about their crypto assets as well as personal information that could be revealed to court. We saw things like that on FTX after its collapse.
It is interesting that Huobi Global's new name HTX sounds like FTX. It does not give positive vibes since people do not forget what FTX did with users' funds and how they operated their business. The exchange will always say that users' assets are safe and there is nothing to worry about. People find out the truth sooner or later.
Image Sources: 1, and 2.
Reference: 1.
About Me
I'm a content creator and passionate learner. I write about finance, cryptocurrency, and lifestyle. Stay tuned to know what's going on in crypto.
Follow me on Twitter and
Watch my videos: 3Speak, DTube, and YouTube.
Posted Using LeoFinance Alpha
It sucks to hear about the hack but I don't remember Justin Sun being involved with that exchange before. Either way, I hope they are able to recover the funds for their users even if it's being covered by the company.
Justin Sun is an HTX advisor. Looks like he has a huge influence on the exchange. It sets a bad example, exchange's hot wallets can be hackers' honeypots. It goes back to the old saying, not your keys, not your crypto.
These cases of hacking are becoming common.
Something smells weird to me
It reminds users once again not to leave crypto on a centralized crypto exchange. Using self-custody wallets is a way to go.