Ever since the internet came into existence, hacking has been an essential part of it. It’s an unfortunate practice that has existed ever since World War 2. For instance, Alan Turing successfully decrypted German radio communications that helped the Allied forces win the war. That was also, in a sense, a form of ethical hacking. However, most of the hacking that occurs today on the internet is not ethical. From data breaches to social media accounts being hacked and phishing sites, the malicious activities of hackers lurk all around us.
Cryptocurrency, which mostly operates on Blockchain technology, has been hailed as one of the safest modes of investment. In fact, it rose to popularity due to the fact that it was decentralized, and getting into someone’s crypto wallet was downright impossible. Yet, the recent incident with AscendEx implies the contrary to that assumption.
The incident
AscendEx is a cryptocurrency exchange that services major crypto giants such as Binance, ERC-20, and Polygon. According to recent reports, the exchange was hacked, and the exchange lost around 80 million dollars. Although, AscendEx has promised that it will return all the money as soon as possible. All unauthorized withdrawals have been frozen, and the experts at the exchange are working to solve the issue.
The worrying trend
A trend has been noticed with hackers targeting crypto exchanges and wallets. It’s disturbing to see that one of the safest investment spheres is losing its reputation. Bitmart and BadgerDAO have also fallen victim to such hacks. It’s time for crypto exchanges to one-up their security measures and protect the interests of their investors and customers.
