Crypto exchange HTX loses $8M in weekend hack

Largely unnoticed until Monday, stakeholder Justin Sun confirmed a $8 million hack in a tweet

September 25, 2023 12:04 pm

TimeStopper69/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

Crypto exchange HTX stakeholder Justin Sun confirmed on Monday that the exchange suffered a hack over the weekend, with losses totaling $8 million.

In an X thread, Sun wrote that the losses have been covered by the exchange, that current user deposits are secure, and that the platform is operating normally.

Sun also publicly offered the hacker a 5% upon the return of the remainder of funds — short of the 10% often offered to attackers — in addition to a job at the exchange.

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Tron (TRX) is close to flat on the day, down 0.83%. Per DeFiLlama, HTX (formerly Huobi) has seen nearly $10 million in outflows, with $2.73 in customer deposits on hand.

While the hack took place on Sunday, it largely went unnoticed until security firm Cyvers Alerts posted a thread on the attack at 9:35 am ET. An hour later, Sun confirmed the attack.

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An address labeled as a HTX hot wallet by Nansen sent the hacker a series of messages in both English and simplified Chinese Monday morning.

“We have identified your true identity. Please return the funds to 0x18709E89BD403F470088aBDAcEbE86CC60dda12e. We will offer you a 5% white hat bonus. This offer is valid for 7 days, until Oct. 2, 2023. If you have not returned the funds by then, we will involve law enforcement,” reads one.

The hack comes just a few days after Sun posted a promotional video animation in which the billionaire, while on a spaceship to what appears to be Mars, defeats a hooded figure representing a hacker “shorting crypto” with a single punch.

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Sun’s LinkedIn profile lists him has a member of Huobi’s “Global Advisory Board.” Bloomberg previously reported that the TRON founder bought a 60% stake in the exchange for $1 billion, though he has publicly denied owning a majority stake.

Multiple Huobi and Justin Sun reps declined a request for comment by press time.

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