JAKARTA - Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid said on Thursday, August 19 that it was attacked by hackers in a theft that is estimated to cost more than US$94 million (around Rp. 1.3 trillion). This makes them the newest crypto platform to be targeted by cybercriminals.
"We regret to announce that the #LiquidGlobal hot wallet has been compromised, we are moving assets to a cold wallet," he said on Twitter. They also added that deposits and withdrawals were suspended.
Liquid later said it was tracking asset movements and working with other exchanges to freeze and recover their funds.
“warm” or “hot” digital wallets are usually online based and designed to allow users to more easily access cryptocurrencies. "Cold" wallets are offline and more difficult to access - and therefore usually more secure.
London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said the digital addresses identified by Liquid as belonging to the thieves had received more than $94 million in digital coins, including about $31 million in ether, $5 million in bitcoin and 13 million dollars. million US dollars in XRP.
According to Elliptic, around 45 million US dollars of tokens connected to the Ethereum blockchain were also stolen.
Hackers or hackers convert some of these tokens to cryptocurrency ether through so-called decentralized exchanges - peer-to-peer. Elliptic says it helps Liquid track the stolen funds.
Liquid's CEO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on this matter.
Crypto platform Poly Network was at the center of the theft of US$610 million worth of crypto last week. It became one of the largest ever. Within days of the theft, the decentralized financial platform said the "white hat" hackers had returned almost all the loot.
Liquid is the latest exchange in Japan to be hit by a major heist.
Tokyo-based exchange Mt.Gox collapsed in 2014 after losing half a billion dollars in hacking. Coincheck, also based in Tokyo, was hit with $530 million in theft in 2018.
Founded in 2014, Liquid says it serves millions of customers worldwide. It operates in more than 100 countries.
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