FTX Says It Confirmed Hacking, Investigating ‘Unauthorized Activities’
Fallen crypto exchange FTX said on Saturday it was moving funds to offline storage following a series of “unauthorized transactions”, with analysts saying millions of dollars in assets had been removed from the platform.
FTX US general counsel Ryne Miller said in a tweet on Saturday that the exchange was accelerating the process of converting all digital assets to cold storage “to minimize damage when they detect unauthorized transactions.”
An unusual investigation of wallet movements related to the integration of ftx balances on all exchanges – the facts are unclear as other movements are unclear. We will share more information as soon as we receive it. @FTX_Official
– Ryne Miller (@_Ryne_Miller) November 12, 2022
Cold storage refers to crypto wallets that are not connected to the internet to guard against hackers.
Late Friday, Miller tweeted that he was “investigating anomalies with wallet movement related to the integration of FTX balances across exchanges.”
Figures from Singapore-based statistics firm Nansen showed total one-day outflows from FTX of around $266 million (around Rs. 2,100 crore), with $73 million (around Rs. 580 crore) withdrawn. on FTX US only.
FTX did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Before Miller’s tweets, FTX officials appeared to confirm rumors that the company’s Telegram channel had been hacked, according to a CoinDesk report that said the exchange had instructed customers to delete FTX apps and avoid its website.
“FTX has been hacked,” an account administrator on the FTX Support Telegram channel wrote in a message, according to CoinDesk.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the information posted on FTX’s private Telegram channel.
FTX, an affiliate of crypto trading firm Alameda Research and about 130 of its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in Delaware, FTX said on Friday.
The beleaguered crypto trading platform had struggled to raise billions as traders withdrew $6 billion (roughly Rs. 48,300 crore) worth of crypto tokens from the platform in just 72 hours and rival exchange Binance pulled out of a proposed rescue deal week.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
