The ‘KuCoin’ Crypto Exchange Has Announced a Massive Security Incident
- Someone has stolen about $150 million from the ‘KuCoin’ cryptocurrency exchange, emptying user hot wallets.
- The CEO of the platform reassured everyone affected that they will be reimbursed from KuCoin’s insurance fund.
- For now, no transactions are allowed until the investigation is over, and the platform is totally secured.
The cryptocurrency exchange ‘KuCoin’ has announced a large-scale security incident involving hackers who managed to withdraw a large amount of money from user wallets. The event took place on September 26, 2020, at 03:05:37 (UTC+8), so if your ‘KuCoin’ wallet shows activity around that time, here’s your explanation.
Unfortunately, ‘KuCoin’ hasn’t managed to stop the money from being transferred out of the exchange. Still, they have assured the affected individuals that all amounts will be covered completely by the platform’s insurance fund.a
Related: About $18 Million in Crypto Was up for Grabs Through Leaky Databases
This incident affected only hot wallets, so cold wallets haven’t been touched. Right now, there’s a thorough security investigation taking place, so no deposits or withdrawals will be allowed on either hot or cold wallets.
The service will only be restored when the platform is confident that it is secured properly, so the exchange users are kindly requested to remain patient. This may be a bit hard for those who lost their money, but keeping calm is the best approach one can take right now.
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.com (@cryptoquant_com) September 26, 2020
As reported by ZDNet, the amount of money that flew away is estimated to be around $150 million in Etherium, Bitcoin, and other crypto forms. Also, the event is purported to have completely emptied all hot wallets, so all KuCoin users of this category have been affected. One of the addresses where part of the stolen funds ($4 million) ended up on has already been traced and reported.
KuCoin has set up a queries page where people can find some momentary solace by submitting their questions towards the CEO, Johnny Lyu. Moreover, a live stream session was held, during which Lyu updated the userbase with more details about what happened. The CEO promised that everything would return to normal operations within a week. Also, he reassured users that KuCoin’s insurance fund is large enough to cover everyone’s losses.
On the matter of tracking the hackers, Mr. Lyu said that they are currently working together with many other major crypto exchanges, blockchain projects, security agencies, and law enforcement authorities to find the person responsible for this big heist. For now, they have no valuable details to share on that part.
Finally, some user assets are flowing out right now even after the service has been locked, and Lyu clarified that this is done by the platform’s security team to protect these assets.