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.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

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.

Two other addresses are exhibiting similar activity, with the total sum withdrawn and swapped on Ethereum totaling $18.6 million at press time.

Per security firm Cyvers Alerts, an additional $8.5 million in crypto assets were withdrawn to an address on the Tron blockchain, and a $290,000 in assets was withdrawn to a Polygon address, totalling $27.4 million between the three chains.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.
Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
Lightspeed: All things Solana.
The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

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

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2025

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

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

Permissionless IV

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

buy tickets learn more

Permissionless IV Hackathon

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

learn more

recent research

Research

Suilend's Multi-Product DeFi Suite

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

by Luke Leasure