Australian crypto exchange CoinSpot was reportedly hacked for $2.4 million as part of a “likely private key compromise” for at least one of its hot wallets.
According to a November 8 post on his Telegram channel, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT highlighted two transactions that ended up in the suspected hacker’s wallet. The wallet owner then routed the funds to the Bitcoin (BTC) network via ThorChain and Wan Bridge.
In emailed comments to Cointelegraph, blockchain security firm CertiK said the alleged exploit was the result of a “likely private key compromise” on at least one CoinSpot hot wallet.
According to data from Etherscan, a transaction totaling 1,262 Ether (ETH) – worth $2.4 million at current prices – came from a well-known CoinSpot wallet and ended up in the suspected hacker’s wallet.
The suspected attacker stole 1,262 ETH from a well-known CoinSpot wallet. Source: ZachXBT
The owner of the wallet address that received the 1,262 ETH then began a series of transfers. In two separate transactions, the wallet owner exchanged 450 ETH for 24 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) via Uniswap.
The list of transactions made using the suspected attacker’s wallet. Source: DeBank
Related: Apple macOS malware targets the crypto community and engineers
Over the next 10 minutes, the address exchanged 831 ETH for Bitcoin via Thorchain and sent the Bitcoin to four different wallet addresses, according to CertiK investigative data viewed by Cointelegraph.
A search of the data from the Bitcoin explorer BTCScan revealed that the owner of the four Bitcoin wallets distributed the allegedly illegally acquired BTC among several new wallets and each time transferred smaller portions of the funds to additional new wallets.
This is a common tactic used by attackers to drag out the investigation process – making it more difficult to track down all of the stolen funds.
Founded in 2013, CoinSpot is currently Australia’s largest crypto exchange by reported user numbers, serving around 2.5 million customers. The exchange is regulated by the Australian Financial Conduct Authority AUSTRAC and has received an Australian digital currency exchange license from the regulator.
CoinSpot immediately responded to a request for comment from Cointelegraph.
Magazine: Beyond crypto – zero-knowledge proofs show potential from voting to finance
Learn Crypto Trading, Yield Farms, Income strategies and more at CrytoAnswers
https://nov.link/cryptoanswers
Comments are closed.