CoinEx outlines approximate timelines for resuming withdrawals

The cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx plans to move crypto assets to a new hot-wallet system by September 24, after which withdrawals will resume. Representatives of the trading platform told ForkLog this in a comment about the exchange’s hack on September 12.

Preliminarily, CoinEx estimates that attackers stole about $70 million in various crypto assets. The exchange claims they obtained access to the private keys of the hot wallets:

“In the course of the investigation we determined that the main cause of the hack was the compromise of the private keys of the hot wallets, in which the exchange’s assets are temporarily stored for conducting transactions.”

“We suspended withdrawals to protect users’ assets, fixed the vulnerabilities, and safely moved the remaining assets to cold wallets.”

“At present the CoinEx team is rolling out a completely new wallet system to operate with 211 blockchains and 737 assets. We expect it to launch this week, after which withdrawals will be phased back in.”

As of publication, the reconstruction of CoinEx’s hot-wallet system was 50% completed.

In its comment, the exchange neither confirmed nor denied the information about the involvement in the hack attributed to the North Korea–linked Lazarus Group.

“We are still determining the identity of the attacker, although we have taken note of statements by several companies that these actions were carried out by a particular hacking group. At present, CoinEx’s top priority is to promptly create and deploy a new wallet architecture.”

On September 15, the trading platform published an open letter to the hackers on X. In it, CoinEx expressed hope that they would contact the exchange’s representatives and come to a reasonable solution.

CoinEx promised 100% compensation to users affected by the hack.