CoinEx sees $27M in outflows in suspected hack

Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx sparked fears of a hack on Tuesday after massive hot wallet outflows

September 12, 2023 12:45 pm

frank_peters/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has sparked fears of a hack following massive outflows from their hot wallets on Tuesday.

Per Etherscan data, at a cryptocurrency address received nearly 5,000 ether from a known CoinEx hot wallet at 9:20 am ET. Since then, the address has been systematically withdrawing sums of other cryptocurrencies from the exchange and swapping them for ether (ETH) using decentralized exchange Uniswap in what appears to be an ongoing attack.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

Two other addresses are exhibiting similar activity, with the total sum withdrawn and swapped on Ethereum totaling $18.6 million at press time.

Per security firm Cyvers Alerts, an additional $8.5 million in crypto assets were withdrawn to an address on the Tron blockchain, and a $290,000 in assets was withdrawn to a Polygon address, totalling $27.4 million between the three chains.

Loading Tweet..

CoinEx withdrew operations from the state of New York in June following allegations that the exchange violated the Martin Act by not registering as a securities dealer.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2026

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

buy tickets learn more

recent research

Research

Neutrl: Unlocking Institutional OTC Yield for Stablecoins

Neutrl is a synthetic dollar protocol designed to monetize structural inefficiencies in crypto markets, with a particular focus on hedged OTC token arbitrage. By pairing discounted locked-token purchases with delta-neutral hedging, the protocol offers yields that are less dependent on funding rate cycles than traditional cash and carry strategies. Early traction has been strong, with TVL growing from $120M to $210M following the removal of deposit caps, while sNUSD currently yields materially more than competing yield-bearing stablecoins. The key question for Neutrl is scalability: whether access to high-quality OTC deal flow and disciplined liquidity management can support continued TVL growth without compressing returns.

by Kunal Doshi