Bitmart Suffers $200 Million Theft as Hackers Exploit Security Vulnerabilities on the Platform

Giant crypto exchange Bitmart became the latest crypto platform to suffer a hack after hackers exploited some security vulnerabilities on the network and carted away millions of dollars worth of coins.

The exchange reportedly lost over $200 million in the hack, which targeted hot wallets. Peckshield, blockchain security, and auditing company were the first to spot the hacking threat after posting about a possible hot wallet vulnerability on social media. The wallets involved in the hack were accounts that held ETH and BSC-based tokens.

According to Peckshield, the hackers made away with over $200 million in SHIB, SAFEMOON, SAND, and MANA, among others.

The hack event triggered a price reaction in the affected coins on the exchange due to the liquidation of large amounts of these tokens on decentralized exchanges.

Bitmart has acknowledged the unfortunate event and noted that the losses from the theft accounted for a small portion of the exchange’s holdings. The company noted in its official statement that:

“The affected ETH hot wallet and BSC hot wallet carries a small percentage of assets on BitMart, and all of our other wallets are secure and unharmed. We are now conducting a thorough security review, and we will post updates as we progress.”

Bitmart Hack Arguably the Worst Centralized Exchange Hack in 2021

Peckshield reported that the hackers quickly distributed the stolen funds across several platforms to mix their loot and erase the trail. The exploiters exchanged Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum tokens for Ether using 1inch and subsequently sent it to Tornado.cash, a protocol that allows users to make transactions more obscure and less susceptible to tracing.

This attack is arguably the worst attack on a centralized exchange this year, as DeFi platforms become the focus of exploits like this. Following the hack, Bitmark immediately suspended withdrawals for all assets until it conducts an investigation into the hack and carries out a security review on the platform, and its vulnerabilities.

 

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