Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx on September 12 became the target of hackers, siphoning off a large amount of assets on many blockchains.
According to CoinEx statistics, hackers took money on 18 blockchains, with an estimated loss of about 54 million USD.
In the latest update, the exchange said that the private key of hot wallets was leaked, allowing hackers to access and withdraw money. However, the specific cause of the incident is still being investigated.
CoinEx has transferred the remaining funds on the exchange to new wallets to ensure safety, but has not yet restored the deposit-withdrawal function for users. The reason is because the exchange is in the process of urgently building a new wallet system for 211 blockchains and 737 assets to prevent the risk of being attacked again.
On September 14, CoinEx CEO Haipo Yang apologized to the community on X (Twitter), and pledged to fully compensate damaged customers. The CEO admitted that the hack was a "wake-up call" for CoinEx to reform its security system and invest more in the exchange's infrastructure.
In related developments, there is evidence that the hacker behind the CoinEx hack is Lazarus Group, a hacker organization affiliated with the North Korean government and has attacked many projects in the period 2022-2023 such as Axie Infinity 's Ronin Bridge ($625 million); Harmony's Horizon Bridge ($100 million); Euler Finance ($197 million); Alphapo (60 million USD); Atomic Wallet ($100 million); Stake (41 million USD).
