Crypto exchange CoinEx reportedly hacked for nearly $28 million

• CoinEx hot wallets for Ethereum, TRON and Polygon saw huge outflows.
• Security platforms pointed to a possible hack, with nearly $28 million stolen.

Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has reportedly been hacked, with assets worth nearly $28 million stolen.

According to the latest details of the incident, the crypto exchange’s hot wallets for Ethereum, TRIN and Polygon had been compromised and drained of more than $27.8 million.

CoinEX halts deposits and withdrawals

At the time of going to press, the CoinEX team has suspended withdrawals and deposits, referring to a wallet maintenance. The exchange appears to have acted after an alert from Web3 security firm Cyvers Alert, which highlighted its AI system’s spotting of the breach and wallet drain.

Blockchain security platform PeckShield also noted the huge flows from CoinEx’ hot wallets.

Hi @coinexcom, suspicious outflow of large funds from #coinex hot wallets. https://t.co/C1kCcdnIRQ

— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) September 12, 2023

According to on-chain data, stolen funds amounted to about $18.12 million in ETH, $8.5 million in TRX and $291k in MATIC. Cyvers put the possible causes of the hack to either “access control violations, private key leakage or rug pulling.” The platform also mentioned a possible insider job.

🚨Red Code🚨Our AI-powered model detected suspicious transactions related to @coinexcom 2 hours ago

The potentially stolen funds amount to $18.12M #Eth $8.5M #Tron and $291K in #Polygon

Possible causes: access control violations, private key leakage, rug pulling, insider job https://t.co/Wzw84azM9M pic.twitter.com/2bqHmE18Sr

— 🚨 Cyvers Alerts 🚨 (@CyversAlerts) September 12, 2023

The hack on CoinEX comes as the crypto sector navigates a market lull that has most coins way off their last bull cycle peak. But more notably, it highlights the continuing risks and challenges facing the crypto industry as it trends towards mainstream adoption.

As reported earlier today, experts see the growing institutionalization of crypto via ongoing backing from the likes of BlackRock as critical to its maturity.