Crypto Wallet Belonging to Poloniex Experiences Suspicious Outflows, $100 Million in Crypto Drained

Suspicious Outflows Detected

A crypto wallet belonging to digital asset exchange Poloniex has experienced suspicious outflows, leading to as much as $100 million in crypto being drained by attackers. Blockchain security firms believe that the company was breached, resulting in the significant loss of funds.

Initial Estimates and Key Findings

On November 10, millions of crypto assets were transferred from an account labeled Poloniex 4 on blockchain explorer Etherscan. Initial estimates of the losses were around $60 million, but it was later determined that over $100 million was taken by the attackers. Blockchain security firm CertiK believes that the incident was likely a "private key compromise." The firm also noted that the funds have already been transferred to four externally owned accounts, with some accounts being swapped into Ether (ETH).

Exchange Response and Official Statement

In response to the suspicious outflows, Poloniex disabled the wallet. However, the exchange has not yet released an official statement regarding the hack. The exchange has been contacted for comment but has not provided an immediate response.

Investigation and User Reimbursement

Justin Sun, who acquired Poloniex in 2019, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the team is already investigating the hacking incident. Sun stated that they will fully reimburse the users affected by the breach. He also mentioned that the exchange "maintains a healthy financial position" and is seeking collaborations with other exchanges to recover the lost funds. Sun has offered a 5% white-hat bounty to the Poloniex hacker and stated that they will work with law enforcement authorities if the funds are not returned within seven days.

Impact on Tron Cryptocurrency

Despite the negative incident, Tron (TRX), the native cryptocurrency of one of Sun's other crypto projects, has seen a 20% increase in price, according to digital asset information tracker CoinGecko. The cryptocurrency went from trading at $0.09 to $0.11 on the same day as the hack.