Bitturk, a leading Turkish cryptocurrency exchange, said on June 22 that 10 hot wallets were compromised due to a cyberattack.
However, specific details about the damaged assets or the total amount stolen have not yet been released.
The BTC Turk hack resulted in the sale of Avalanche worth $54 million.
In a statement posted on its status page, BTC Turk assured that the hack did not affect users' cryptocurrency holdings and emphasized its financial resilience against such attacks. The exchange explained that only a small portion of hot wallet balances for 10 cryptocurrencies were affected, with most assets in cold storage remaining safe.
“Only a portion of hot wallet balances for 10 cryptocurrencies were affected by the cyberattack, and cold wallets where most assets are stored are safe. BTC Turk’s financial health is significantly higher than the amount affected by this attack, and user assets will not be affected by these losses,” a translated version of the exchange statement reads .
Meanwhile, Avalanche's AVAX token fell about 10% due to this incident. Blockchain analyst ZachXBT reported that approximately 1.96 million AVAX tokens worth $54.2 million were transferred through THORChain and various exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance , and Gate.
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His analysis suggests that the group may have exchanged AVAX tokens for Bitcoin. According to BeInCrypto data, this caused the price of AVAX to fall below $25, a six-month low, but has recovered slightly to $26 as of press time.
“We performed a timing analysis and found that BTC withdrawals most likely occurred immediately after AVAX deposits on both Coinbase and Binance,” ZachXBT said .
After the security breach occurred, BTC Turk temporarily suspended cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals on its platform. It added that it has launched an investigation into the incident, urging users to be patient.
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Community members have raised concerns about BTC Turk's security measures following the attack. ZachXBT demonstrates the limitations of KYC and compliance regulations, suggesting that some exchanges may be overlooking important security threats despite being compliant.
“The harsh reality about KYC and compliance in general (whether on regulated or offshore exchanges) is that it is significantly ineffective against real threats. It's not the exchange's fault for trying to comply with laws/regulations. The key difference between exchanges is that they build teams that respond to ongoing threats and are receptive to feedback. Some ‘regulated’ exchanges are completely out of touch with the real issues,” he added .
This security breach highlights ongoing vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency sector, which also affected major exchanges. This year alone, cryptocurrency-related hacks and thefts have resulted in over $600 million in losses, about 50% of which were due to the $350 million hack of popular Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin .
