TL;DR Breakdown
- The hackers who carried out the AscendEx attack have begun moving some of the stolen assets to Uniswap.
- AscendEX lost over $77.7 million in the hot wallet hack.
- The frequency of crypto hacks in cryptocurrency exchanges is on the rise.
AscendEx stolen crypto assets back into the market
In December 2021, cryptocurrency trading platform AscendEx was hacked, and $77.7 million in cryptocurrencies was lost. The hacking attack targeted three blockchain platforms’ hot wallets. $60 million, $9.2 million, and $8.5 million in tokens were taken from Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon, respectively.
Hackers transferred approximately $1.5 million in Ethereum to Uniswap two months after exploiting the crypto exchange AscendEx (formerly Bitmax). It’s their first attempt to launder crypto money.
So far, 516 Ether, priced at $1.5 million, has been transferred to Uniswap by anonymous hackers. Following the hack, addresses that received stolen crypto were blacklisted, and there was little to no activity until now. The stolen coins began to flow back into the market on Friday morning U.S. time.
Uniswap is a decentralized exchange, which means it doesn’t require KYC. It implies that the criminals may blend their coins and send them to new addresses without being detected. AscendEx suspended all withdrawals and deposits following the breach to maintain customer security. Furthermore, it took the exchange around a week to resume service.
Accelerated crypto exchange hacks
Cryptocurrency is considered transparent, but it also has a bad reputation for being targeted by hackers. The size of crypto heists is only increasing. Exchanges are frequently targeted since they frequently include open-source code libraries.
In the summer of 2021, an unknown hacker stole $600 million in cryptocurrency from Poly Network. Then, after stealing, the culprit returned it. Another hacker plundered a minimum of $150 million from Bitmart four months later. In 2021, five of the top 10 biggest crypto heists took place and followed into 2022.
Another example is the Coincheck incident in 2018, which robbed investors of roughly $530 million, making it the largest cryptocurrency robbery until 2021’s Poly Network incident. The Badger DAO hack cost $120 million in damages.
Mt. Gox was a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange that launched in 2010. It was formerly the world’s largest crypto exchange, handling around 70% of worldwide Bitcoin transactions. In 2011, Mt. Gox was compromised, and around 850,000 Bitcoins were stolen.
KuCoin is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. It began operation in 2013 and trades in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ardor. In September 2020, it was targeted by hackers who extorted over $281 million worth of coins and tokens.
Upbit is a South Korean-based cryptocurrency exchange that was launched in 2017. Despite being located in South Korea, the platform has grown popular worldwide. However, in November 2019, a massive cyberattack hit the exchange. The attackers were able to penetrate the exchange and steal over $45 million in one transaction.
Binance is a well-known cryptocurrency exchange. However, in May 2019, the company faced a serious security problem. Hackers stole approximately 7,000 Bitcoins from Binance’s hot wallet. The losses from the assault were about $40 million overall.
Modern bank robbers have invaded the crypto world. AscendEx’s recent calamity has investors doubting the safety of their funds. To avoid future breaches, cryptocurrency exchanges must strengthen security precautions now.
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