JAKARTA – Large-scale cryptocurrency theft remains a significant problem. According to Coindesk, crypto exchange BitMart has lost the equivalent of $196 million to the hack.
The intruder broke into Ethereum and Binance wallets with a flood of transfers starting around 2:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. EDT) on December 4, which was followed by a token exodus two hours later that included Shiba and USDC.
BitMart founder Sheldon Xia said only a "small percentage" of BitMart's assets were at risk. Even so, the company has frozen the recall "until further notice" and is reviewing security.
It is not clear who is responsible, but the culprit may be a very skilled person. The stolen funds have been sent to Ethereum mixing services which can make it difficult to trace the funds.
Crypto thieves are not always shrewd. Poly Network attackers, for example, offered to "give up" and eventually return all their loot. They claim they contributed to Poly's security, but it may also have been an attempt to avoid repercussions after researchers obtained data that could potentially identify the perpetrator.
While this isn't the biggest digital theft, as Poly was breached for US$610 million (Rp8.8 trillion), Coindesk notes this is one of the larger centralized exchange hacks to date.
They also highlight the growing problem of cryptocurrency theft as this technology makes it too easy to steal large amounts of money with little impact.
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