On June 22, BtcTurk, a major crypto exchange in Turkey, experienced a cyber attack compromising 10 hot wallets. This incident led to a notable 10% decrease in Avalanche (AVAX) tokens, amounting to approximately $54.2 million in sales.
While assurances were made about the safety of user assets, the breach underscores ongoing security challenges in the crypto industry.
However, specific details regarding the affected assets or the total amount stolen have not been disclosed.
BtcTurk Hack Triggers $54 Million Sell-off of Avalanche’s AVAX
BtcTurk assured users on its status page that the recent hack did not compromise their crypto holdings, highlighting its robust financial resilience and secure cold storage of the majority of assets.
“Only some of the balances in the hot wallets of 10 cryptocurrencies were affected by the cyber attack in question, and our cold wallets, where most of the assets are kept, are safe. BtcTurk’s financial strength is well above the amounts affected by this attack, and user assets will not be affected by these losses,” the translated exchange statement reads
Meanwhile, a significant 10% decline in Avalanche’s AVAX token followed the incident, with approximately 1.96 million AVAX tokens, valued at $54.2 million, transferred to exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Gate, and through THORChain, according to blockchain analyst ZachXBT.
“I conducted a timing analysis and found highly probably BTC withdrawals made shortly after the AVAX deposits at both Coinbase and Binance,” ZachXBT
After the hack, BtcTurk restricted selling and buying cryptos and opened an inquiry while requesting user patience.
Investors’ concerns about the sophistication of security in BtcTurk have been heightened, with ZachXBT identifying potential shortcomings in KYC procedures and regulatory oversight that may fail to identify major threats despite compliance.
This breach underscores persistent weaknesses in the crypto area, which have affected big exchanges, accumulating losses of more than $600 million this year, including the latest Japan’s DMM Bitcoin hack.
