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November most ‘damaging’ month in 2023 as thieves pilfer 3M in crypto

certik

The Poloniex and HTX/Heco Bridge exploits as well as the KyberSwap flash loan attack were the three largest incidents in November, according to blockchain security firm CertiK.

The cryptocurrency industry has now seen its most “damaging” month for crypto thievery, scams and exploits, with crypto criminals walking away with $363 million in November, according to a blockchain security firm.

Around $316.4 million came from exploits alone, flash loans inflicted $45.5 million in damage, and $1.1 million was lost to various exit scams, CertiK stated in a Nov.

#CertiKStatsAlert

Combining all the incidents in November we’ve confirmed ~$363M lost to exploits, hacks and scams

This makes November the most damaging month this year

Exit scams were ~$1.1M

Flash loans were ~$45.5M

Exploits were ~$316.4M

See more details below pic.twitter.com/QoDy6d8IJH
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) November 30, 2023

The largest exploits in November occurred on Poloniex and HTX/Heco Bridge, with losses of $131.4 million and $113.3 million, respectively.

The third largest exploit was inflicted on a single victim who lost $27 million from a phishing attack.

Meanwhile, the $45 million KyberSwap attack accounted for nearly all damage done for flash loan attacks in the month.

The latest monthly figure has surpassed an earlier record of $329 million, set in September, caused mainly by the $200 million Mixin Network attack.

As of the end of November, about $1.7 billion has now been lost to exploits, exit scams and flash loan attacks in 2023.

Poloniex prepares to resume withdrawals after $100M hack

November 29, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Poloniex prepares to resume withdrawals after 0M hack

Coin Telegraph

Poloniex says it will start resuming deposits on Nov. 30 with TRX, the cryptocurrency of Justin Sun’s Tron blockchain.

Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex is preparing to resume withdrawals and deposits after suffering a $100-million hack on Nov. 10.

Poloniex took to X (formerly Twitter) on Nov. 29 to announce that it will be gradually resuming deposit and withdrawal services on Nov. 30 at 2:00 am UTC.

The crypto exchange stressed that it will implement a phased resumption of the services to “prioritize the safety” of user funds. Poloniex will specifically start restoring Tron (TRX) deposits and withdrawals first, followed by Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT) and other cryptocurrencies “within the next two weeks,” the announcement said.

In addition to restoring withdrawals, Poloniex said it is actively working on introducing new listings, which will be available in the near future. The exchange also requested that all users utilize the newly updated deposit addresses once they become available. The announcement stated:

“Please note that failure to use the updated addresses for deposits will result in the funds not being credited. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.”

In the same announcement, Poloniex also promised to conduct an airdrop for users who keep their assets on Poloniex. Developed in partnership with HTX DAO, the airdrop campaign is expected to launch in December, with asset balance calculation commencing on Dec. 1. Tron founder Justin Sun previously announced the airdrop plan on Nov. 24.

“The tokens for the airdrop will be drawn from a premium project that is about to be listed. We will unveil the specific details of this event in December,” the announcement notes.

In addition to prioritizing Justin Sun-founded Tron for withdrawals, Poloniex also tagged the entrepreneur in the announcement on X. Sun-linked crypto platforms, including HTX and Poloniex, have been hacked four times over the past two months, losing nearly $240 million combined.

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Over $100,000,000 in Ethereum, Shiba Inu, Chainlink and Other Crypto Assets Drained From Justin Sun-Linked Firms

November 25, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Justin Sun-related crypto platforms hacked 4 times in 2 months

November 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Justin Sun’s cryptocurrency exchange HTX has been hacked twice since rebranding from Huobi in September 2023, raising questions from the crypto community.

Tron founder Justin Sun's crypto businesses have come under repeated attack from hackers over the past two months, with at least four hacks of the largest exploits targeting platforms related to the crypto entrepreneur.

Sun’s HTX crypto exchange has been hacked at least twice since the platform rebranded from Huobi on Sept. 13, 2023. The first HTX hack occurred just a few days after the rebranding, with an unknown attacker stealing nearly $8 million in crypto on Sept. 24, 2023.

In its second hack, HTX reportedly lost $13.6 million due to a hot wallet breach in an incident that affected the wider HTX, Tron and BitTorrent ecosystem. Previously known as Huobi, HTX was acquired by Sun in October 2022.

The hackers have also focused on other Sun-related cryptocurrency platforms, including Sun-owned cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex and Huobi’s HTX Eco Chain (HECO) bridge.

Poloniex suffered a significant security breach on Nov. 10, when attackers stole at least $100 million in cryptocurrency from the exchange. Sun, who acquired the business in 2019, reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Poloniex disabled the wallet. According to the blockchain security firm CertiK, the incident was likely a “private key compromise.”

Huobi’s HECO chain bridge, a tool designed for moving digital assets between HECO and other networks like Ethereum, also suffered a massive breach. On Nov. 22, unknown hackers compromised HECO, sending at least $86.6 million to suspicious addresses.

The platforms lost a combined sum of around $208 million in all four hacks over the past two months. Despite Tron founder Sun’s promise to compensate losses for all four incidents, some crypto enthusiasts have urged the community to stay away from Poloniex and HTX, with several questioning who might be involved in the hacks.

One crypto observer argued that Sun is “clearly in big trouble,” noting that Poloniex has been closed for five days and HTX offers 100% interest on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

*HTX’s interest offering for Bitcoin. Source: HTX Earn*

HTX did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

The ongoing speculation comes months after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Tron Founder Sun, charging him and his companies like Tron and BitTorrent for fraud and other securities law violations in March 2023.

A U.S. court subsequently issued a summons to Sun’s Singapore address concerning the case in April 2023. In August, the SEC said that its litigation against Sun was ongoing.

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Poloniex crypto exchange resumes withdrawals after $100M hack

November 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Poloniex crypto exchange resumes withdrawals after 0M hack

Coin Telegraph

Hacked cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex said it has mostly completed restoration efforts and is preparing to resume operations after suffering the major hack on Nov. 10.

Justin Sun’s cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex is preparing to resume operations after suffering a major hack in mid-November, according to an official company announcement posted on Nov. 15

In the statement, the company said that the platform has “mostly completed” the restoration efforts after the $100 million hack.

“The platform is now operating smoothly,” Poloniex said in its most recent update on the resumption of deposit and withdrawal services. The exchange has enlisted a “top-tier security auditing firm” to enhance the security of funds on Poloniex and is preparing to resume withdrawals soon, the firm said, adding:

“Currently, they are in the final stages of the security audit and verification processes for Poloniex. Upon completion of the audit, we will promptly resume deposit and withdrawal services on our platform.”

The firm added that the “evaluation process” is still ongoing and is estimated to take several more days.

Poloniex did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Poloniex suffered a major security breach on Nov. 10, with attackers stealing at least $100 million in cryptocurrency from the exchange. The Poloniex team subsequently disabled the wallet after discovering the suspicious outflows. According to the blockchain security firm CertiK, the incident was likely a “private key compromise.”

Poloniex owner Sun — who acquired the exchange in 2019 — took to X (formerly Twitter) soon after Poloniex disabled the wallet, reporting that the team was already investigating the hacking incident. Sun promised to fully reimburse the users affected by the breach, claiming that Poloniex “maintains a healthy financial position” and is looking for collaborations with other exchanges to recover the lost funds.

Earlier this year, Poloniex agreed to pay a $7.6 million settlement requested by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, related to more than 65,000 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.

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Tron Founder Justin Sun Offers 5% Cut to Hacker After Poloniex Crypto Exchange Loses $125,000,000 in Cyber Heist

November 10, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Poloniex will pay $7.6M settlement to US authorities for ‘apparent violations’ of sanctions

May 1, 2023 Coin Telegraph

<div>Poloniex will pay .6M settlement to US authorities for 'apparent violations' of sanctions</div>

Coin Telegraph

OFAC said Poloniex allowed users in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria to conduct digital asset trades, deposits and withdrawals between January 2014 and November 2019.

The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex has agreed to a $7.6 million settlement related to more than 65,000 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.

In a May 1 notice, OFAC said the $7.6 million would be used to settle Poloniex’s civil case for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. According to the government department, Poloniex allowed users in the sanctioned jurisdictions to conduct more than $15 million worth of digital asset trades, deposits and withdrawals between January 2014 and November 2019.

According to OFAC, Poloniex did not retroactively screen users who had registered at the exchange between when it launched in January 2014 and once it established a sanctions compliance program in May 2015, leading to the apparent violations. It said Poloniex’s violations were not “voluntarily self-disclosed” nor “egregious.”

“Although Poloniex made efforts to identify and restrict accounts with a nexus to Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Crimea, and Syria pursuant to its compliance program, certain customers apparently located in these jurisdictions continued to use Poloniex’s platform to engage in online digital asset-related transactions,” said the notice.

Stablecoin issuer Circle acquired Poloniex in 2018, after which time, OFAC’s investigation concluded, the firm’s compliance measures “further improved,” specifically by closing accounts with IP addresses operating in Crimea. A group of investors, which included Tron founder Justin Sun, purchased the firm from Circle in 2019.

“Poloniex and Circle provided substantial cooperation in connection with OFAC’s investigation into the Apparent Violations.”

Crypto exchange Kraken agreed to a $362,000 settlement with OFAC in November 2022 related to similar apparent sanctions violations in Iran. Cointelegraph reached out to Poloniex but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

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Poloniex

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