Following the KuCoin hack, Tether has frozen 20 million USDT sitting on an Ethereum address and Bitfinex froze 13 million USDT on EOS, according to Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino. Another 1 million USDT was frozen on Omni and 1 million USDT on Tron.
In an announcement posted on its website, KuCoin revealed that it is currently monitoring several addresses linked to the hack. It is also collaborating with several exchanges and projects to halt the movement of the stolen coins and recover them where possible.
KuCoin on Sept. 25 suffered a devastating hack, losing an estimated $150 million from its hot wallet. Speaking on his Twitter account yesterday, Ardoino gave several updates regarding freezes of potentially stolen USDT on Omni, TRON and EOS chains, as the crypto ecosystem scrambles to contain the situation.
SponsoredPSA: re #KuCoin hack@bitfinex froze 13M Tether USDt on EOS as part of the hack@Tether_to just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address https://t.co/GYmESH44da as precautionary measure.
Stay safe everyone!
— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) September 26, 2020
One trader pointed out that it was a slippery slope for Bitfinex to freeze the USDT, asking what is to prevent them from stopping there. The Bitfinex CTO was quick to defend the move, saying that Tether is a centralized stablecoin with obligations to “users, regulators and law enforcement.”
Cross-Platform Cooperation
In the meantime, KuCoin confirmed that it is working with other exchanges to track the stolen funds. These exchanges include Binance, Huobi, OKEx, Bybit, Upbit, Bibox, Gate, MXC, BitMax, BigONE, BKEX, BitZ, HBTC, Hoo, Crypto.com, Bingbon, Renrenbit, LBank, Max/Maicoin, CoinW, Bibo, and Bitrue.
Sponsored SponsoredAnd last one. @Tether_to just froze 1M #USDt on Tron as part of the #kucoin hack.
https://t.co/g4Qes2cvoT https://t.co/4DMAtEPLEg pic.twitter.com/uaC5hllnmB— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) September 26, 2020
Speaking on a livestream on Sept. 26, KuCoin Global CEO Johnny Lyu stated that the following addresses are suspicious and are being monitored:
- ETH: 0xeb31973e0febf3e3d7058234a5ebbae1ab4b8c23
- BTC: 1NRsEQRg5EjmJHbPUX7YADVPcPzCQBkyU7
- LTC: LQtFoidy5TmLrPP77MZzgMRffqPsmRfMXE
- XRP: r3mZvvHVLPtRWAujzBsAoXqH11jhwQZvzY
- BCHSV: 15mC7zKbLyErSKzGRHpy6gyqS7GyRpWjEi
- XLM: GBM3PJWNB5VKNOFXCDTTNXPMUNBMYTLAAPYDIIKLHUGMKX7ZGN2FNGFU
- USDT: 1NRsEQRg5EjmJHbPUX7YADVPcPzCQBkyU7
- TRX: TB3j1gUXaLXXq2bstiSMfjQ9R7Yh9DdDgK
Velo Labs on Sept. 26 revealed that it will invalidate all VELO tokens moved to the suspicious addresses and replace all of them.
SponsoredImportant Notice Regarding KuCoin Security Breach
All VELO tokens will be safe and completely secured.https://t.co/WWL6LqqZ0A
— Velo Official (@veloprotocol) September 26, 2020
Reactions to the Hack
Despite the nature of the attack, which worked by compromising the exchange’s hot wallet private keys, KuCoin insists that user data is safe and insurance will cover any losses. At press time, it is unclear exactly how many users have been affected and to what extent. But anecdotal evidence from Reddit does not suggest that substantial user losses have been recorded yet.
In a screenshot posted on Twitter showing what appears to be KuCoin Senior Partner Alicia Kao speaking to users in a KuCoin Telegram Channel. She reassures them that their funds are safe and the exchange is investigating the hack.
Sponsored SponsoredKucoin update, finally a response from them pic.twitter.com/dxHnfcvGaA
— loomdart – Holy War Arc (@loomdart) September 26, 2020
In the meantime, TRON founder Justin Sun has also reacted to the developing situation, offering his sympathy to KuCoin and pledging to assist in recovering stolen funds.
Sponsored SponsoredWe sympathize w/ all users & @kucoincom team, we hope they can recover their funds soon. @TRONSCAN_ORG will label the hacker's address so that all exchange partners are made aware. @Poloniex are on high alert in case the stolen funds are transferred to Poloniex. https://t.co/Owrm27ZHiw
— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) September 26, 2020
BeinCrypto will bring more updates as the story develops.
