Hackers Breach Turkish Exchange BtcTurk, Causing $54 Million Loss

On June 22, hackers targeted BtcTurk. The Turkish cryptocurrency exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals pending the investigation of the incident.

According to the platform’s statement, the perpetrators accessed hot wallets containing 10 different cryptocurrencies. The exchange remains solvent, with cold wallets holding the majority of assets securely.

Chinese journalist Colin Wu reported the sale of Avalanche (AVAX) tokens worth $54 million. Previously, researcher VeriDelisi identified the address from which the assets were initially transferred as belonging to BtcTurk.

Today, 54 million USD of AVAX was sold. The AVAX at 0x32…4f30 originated from the transfer of X-avax1qsnptt6yxnwmh8up7xn5u3sajz37lmyv8u3dmu on the Avalanche-X chain. @VeriDelisi believes that this address is the address of a Turkish exchange. https://t.co/9vlyQuMXXy

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 22, 2024

According to on-chain investigator ZachXBT, losses amounted to at least 1.96 million AVAX ($54.2 million).

Just shared on Telegram that this entity withdrew $46M+ worth of BTC from Coinbase/Binance after those AVAX depositshttps://t.co/aONZbESvre

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 22, 2024

He recorded the withdrawal of 587.75 BTC ($38.1 million) from Coinbase and 122.66 BTC ($7.95 million) from Binance shortly after AVAX deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges.

ZachXBT also reported a probable hack of the online casino Sportsbet amounting to over $3.5 million by the same hacker, as funds from these attacks were mixed.

Binance CEO Richard Teng announced the freezing of $5.3 million in stolen funds and assistance to BtcTurk in the investigation.

Binance is assisting BtcTurk with investigations and have frozen over $5.3M in stolen funds so far.

Our investigations & security teams work around the clock as part of our proactive efforts to protect the ecosystem from bad actors. We will provide further updates as relevant. https://t.co/8j6uMgOPm6

— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) June 22, 2024

Following the breach, AVAX’s price fell by 10%, from $27.2 to $24.5. At the time of writing, the coin had recovered to $25.7.

Previously, bug hunters withdrew $3 million from the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken due to an “extremely critical” vulnerability. Blockchain security firm CertiK revealed involvement in a “white” hack.

Earlier in June, the British cryptocurrency exchange Lykke ceased all operations due to a “security incident” that led to a $22 million loss.