Two cryptocurrency platforms linked to high-profile digital entrepreneur Justin Sun have been targeted by hackers in two separate exploits, estimated to have stolen a total of $115 million.
The first platform, the HTX digital currency exchange, formerly known as Huobi, was attacked, resulting in an estimated $30 million worth of cryptocurrency being stolen, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The second platform, the so-called blockchain bridge Heco Chain, was also hacked, with market analytics firm CryptoQuant assessing that a total of $85.4 million worth of cryptocurrency, mainly denominated in stablecoin USDT and ether, has been stolen. A large amount of HTX’s native cryptocurrency, HBTC, was also taken, the price of which has dropped more than 5% versus 24 hours before, according to CoinGecko.
HTX has implemented urgent measures to protect user assets, and has temporarily suspended deposit and withdrawal services on both HTX and Heco Chain as a precautionary measure. The company also promised to fully compensate any losses incurred due to the hot wallet attack.
Analysis by CryptoQuant showed that around 11,100 ether tokens have been moved from the HTX exchange in the last few hours, which is believed to be the result of hackers stealing the digital coins, as well as a few users trying to get their money from the exchange. CryptoQuant analyst Bradley Park stated that the hackers are switching their stolen assets into the more liquid ether asset because stablecoins USDT and USDC can be frozen.
The HTX hack follows another exchange backed by Sun, Poloniex, which suffered a hack this month where $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen. Tether, which issues USDT, and Circle, the company behind USDC, were not available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
