Bitrue, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, has been hit by a security breach resulting in the loss of $23 million worth of crypto assets. The exchange detected a hot wallet exploit earlier today which allowed hackers to drain the funds from the wallet. The company noted that the affected hot wallet held less than 5% of the exchange’s overall reserves, while the rest of the wallets remained uncompromised.
1/4: We have identified a brief exploit in one of our hot wallets on 07:18 (UTC), 14 April 2023. We were able to address this matter quickly and prevented the further exploit of funds. We take this matter seriously and are currently investigating the situation. pic.twitter.com/QioPHSB2DM
— Bitrue (@BitrueOfficial) April 14, 2023
BREAKING: Crypto exchange Bitrue has been hacked. Lost over $23m worth of assets.
— whalechart (@WhaleChart) April 14, 2023
Details of the Hack
In a Twitter post, Bitrue stated that the hacker managed to steal a total of $23 million in various cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), GALA, Shiba Inu (SHIB), Quatn (QNT), and Holo (HOT).
2/4: The attackers were able to withdraw assets worth approximately 23M USD in ETH, QNT, GALA, SHIB, HOT and MATIC. The affected hot wallet only holds less than 5% of our overall funds. The rest of our wallets remain secure and have not been compromised.
— Bitrue (@BitrueOfficial) April 14, 2023
According to PeckShield, a blockchain security and analytics firm, the hacker swapped 173,000 QNT, 22.55 billion SHIB, 46.4 million GALA, and 310,000 MATIC for around 8,540 ETH, before transferring the stolen assets to an Ethereum wallet.
Bitrue also clarified that it will fully compensate those customers who have lost their funds. The exchange has temporarily disabled all withdrawals for its users and expects to resume withdrawals on April 18 after conducting further security checks.
History of Hacks
This is not the first time Bitrue has faced such a security breach. In 2019, the exchange was hacked for over $4 million in XRP and Cardano due to a vulnerability in their Risk Control team’s 2nd review process, allowing bad actors to access its hot wallet.
Recent Attacks on Crypto Exchanges
The Bitrue incident marks the second major attack on a centralized cryptocurrency exchange in recent weeks. Just days ago, the South Korean exchange Gdac was hacked for nearly $13 million similarly. Such attacks on crypto exchanges continue to highlight the vulnerability of centralized exchanges, which are more prone to such incidents due to their centralized nature.
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