Amid the ongoing cryptocurrency market correction, what could be more devastating than a centralized exchange hack. According to reports, popular crypto exchange BitMart has confirmed losses worth over $190 million in various cryptocurrencies.
The latest security breach in BitMark has been brought to attention by security analysis firm Peckshield, which estimated that the exchange had in total lost a whopping $200 million due to the hack.
Later, founder and CEO Sheldon Xia also took to Twitter to highlight that they have identified a large-scale security breach related to their ETH (Ethereum) and BSC (Binance Smart Chain) hot wallets. This could be one of the largest crypto exchange hacks in history.
"At this moment, we are still concluding the possible methods used. The hackers were able to withdraw assets of the value of approximately USD 150 million," Xia tweeted on Saturday.
The exchange platform is currently conducting a thorough security check and has suspended all transactions. Tokens that have been stolen and dumped during the BitMart exchange hack are BabyDoge, SafeMoon, Floki, Shiba Inu among a few.
PeckShield reportedly noticed excessive amounts of outbound transfers at 7.30 PM (UTC) on Saturday. The security firm found that a large number of meme coins like Shiba Inu (SHIB), in addition to half a million dollars of the stable coin USDC, had been sent out of BitMart's hot wallet starting at 4.30 PM EST.
However, some sources claim that the large transactions seen from BitMart Exchange could be a security issue. "The large sells you are seeing are from Bitmart Exchange. We are not certain at the moment. Nevertheless, our source informed us that there might be security issues from their side. Hold on tight! We will keep you inform," a user that goes by the id @EzanaHcoi tweeted.
Crypto Hacks in 2021
Moreover, it is not the first crypto exchange hack this year. In August, scammers broke into Bilaxy and took away $450 million worth of over 300 cryptocurrencies. Another breach in the crypto market resulted in worth $600 million of coins stolen via Poly Network.
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