An apparent security breach has forced Turkish exchange BtcTurk to suspend crypto withdrawals and deposits after large sums of digital assets were spotted moving in suspicious transactions.
Blockchain monitors first raised the alarm when Cyvers reported detecting around $48 million worth of tokens shifting across multiple chains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Mantle, and Polygon.
Analysts say the funds were funneled into a small number of wallets before being swapped for other coins.
The company confirmed it had uncovered irregular activity in its hot wallets on August 14 and froze affected services while investigations began.
Trading and fiat transactions remain available, and BtcTurk stressed that the bulk of client holdings are stored in offline cold wallets, which were not impacted. Officials have been alerted, and security protocols are being reinforced.
Loss estimates vary depending on the source. Lookonchain puts the damage at roughly $23 million, while CertiK believes it could top $50 million. Some of the identified wallets have been actively converting the stolen crypto into Ether, with both Ethereum and Solana addresses linked to the movements.
This isn’t the first time the exchange has faced a major breach. In mid-2024, BtcTurk lost about $55 million from compromised hot wallets, an incident in which Binance intervened to freeze more than $5 million in stolen funds. Leadership changes followed, with founder Kerem Tibuk stepping in as acting CEO to steer the platform’s push into new international markets.
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Source: https://coindoo.com/major-turkish-exchange-halts-withdrawals-after-suspected-50m-hack/