Bitmart confirmed the hack in an official statement on Saturday evening, calling it a “large-scale security breach” and writing that the hackers had removed around $ 150 million in assets. However, blockchain security and data analytics firm Peckshield estimates the loss to be closer to $ 200 million.
Bitmart added in a statement that all withdrawals have been temporarily suspended until further notice and said a comprehensive security review is underway.
Peckshield was the first to notice the breach on Saturday, noting that one of Bitmart’s addresses showed a constant flow of tens of millions of dollars to an address Etherscan called the “Bitmart Hacker.”
Peckshield estimated that Bitmart lost around $ 100 million in various cryptocurrencies on the ethereum blockchain and an additional $ 96 million in coins on the binance smart chain. The hackers left with a mix of over 20 tokens, including Binance Coin, Safemoon, and Shiba Inu.
Bitmart claims that the affected ethereum and binance smart chain “hot wallets” were carrying only a “small percentage” of the exchange’s assets. The statement went on to say that all other wallets were “secure and unharmed”
People who choose to hold their own cryptocurrency can store it “hot”, “cold”, or a combination of both. A hot wallet is connected to the internet and allows owners to access their coins relatively easily so that they can access and spend their crypto. Trade-off for convenience is potential exposure to bad actors
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