Cryptocurrency exchange HTX leaks over $258 million due to exploit
Cryptocurrency investors are moving assets from cryptocurrency exchange HTX (formerly Huobi) following an abuse case that led to the exchange shutting down services on November 22 and causing losses totaling $30 million.
From November 25, when HTX resumed service, to December 10, net outflows from the exchange amounted to approximately $258 million, according to data from DefiLlama.
According to DefiLlama data, HTX’s holdings are comprised of 32.3% Bitcoin (BTC) and 31.8% Tron (TRX). TRX is the native currency of the Tron network, a blockchain launched by Sun in 2017.
At the time of publication, HTX is the 16th largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, with total trading volume in the past 24 hours reaching $1.6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
After HTX restarted on November 25, Sun promised to fully compensate all affected HTX users for their hot wallet losses and said an investigation was ongoing.
HTX and Heco cross-chain bridges are attacked by hackers. HTX fully compensates for HTX’s hot wallet losses. Deposits and withdrawals will be temporarily suspended. All funds at HTX are safe and the community can rest assured. We are investigating the specific reason behind the hacker…
— HE Justin Sun Sun Yuchen (@justinsuntron) November 22, 2023
Over the past two months, HTX and other companies linked to Sun, including cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex and HECO (HTX Eco Chain) Bridge, have been hacked a total of four times.
The first HTX hack occurred less than two weeks after the exchange changed its name to HTX, with an unknown attacker stealing nearly $8 million worth of cryptocurrency on September 24, 2023.
Related: Security experts say security audits are ‘not enough’ with losses reaching $1.5 billion by 2023
The largest of the exploits was the $100 million Poloniex Exchange exploit on November 10, which was said to have been caused by private key compromise.
HTX’s HECO Chain Bridge, a tool designed to move digital assets between HTX and other blockchain networks, also suffered a major breach on November 22. Hackers compromised HECO and sent at least $86.6 million to suspicious addresses.
Meanwhile, November was the busiest month for cryptocurrency theft in 2023, with hackers and other malicious actors stealing $363 million in ill-gotten digital assets.
Cointelegraph reached out to HTX for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
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