Bitrue exchange has fallen victim to a massive hack resulting in the loss of tens of billions of Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens and other digital assets worth approximately $23 million.
Bitrue confirmed that hackers were able to exploit a hot wallet, enabling them to steal cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH), QNT, GALA, SHIB, HOT, and MATIC.
In a statement released by the exchange, Bitrue disclosed that the hot wallet in question only held less than 5% of the total funds and that the rest of its wallets remained secure and unaffected by the hack. The company said that it has since addressed the issue and prevented further exploitation of funds. The exchange is currently investigating the situation.
PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, revealed that the wallet address associated with the bad actor exchanged the stolen QNT, SHIB, HOT, and MATIC for approximately 8,540 ETH.
The hackers exchanged 173,000 QNT, 22.55 billion SHIB, 46.4 million GALA, and 310,000 MATIC for ETH. The company also noted that QNT experienced an 11% drop in value in just three hours following the exploit.
Bitrue’s hack is yet another reminder of the vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency industry and the need for exchanges to take proactive measures to protect user funds. Investors are urged to be cautious and use secure wallets for storing their digital assets.
