On Monday, Mixin Network, a Hong Kong-based peer-to-peer transactional network for digital goods, reported on X that a hacker had gained access to its cloud service provider’s database and stolen about $200 million. Despite the region’s attempts to protect investors in digital assets, this is the second significant crypto heist to occur in Hong Kong this month.
Quick facts
- Until the vulnerabilities are fixed, Mixin will stop offering deposit and withdrawal services. There will be regular transfers.
- According to the founder of Mixin, Feng Xiaodong, the company may presently only reimburse impacted users up to a “maximum of 50%,” and the remaining amount will be paid back in bond tokens that the business would repurchase with its profits, according to PANews.
- The hack comes after a security lapse on Hong Kong’s CoinEx, a cryptocurrency exchange that suffered a cyberattack on September 12 and suffered losses of almost US$70 million.
- Given that some of the stolen money was routed to an account previously associated with the Lazarus Group, a blockchain analytics company named Elliptic believes the attack was carried out by a group supported by North Korea.
- According to Chainalysis, a blockchain forensics company, hackers stole over US$3.8 billion in cryptocurrencies last year. Cybercriminals supported by North Korea stole US$1.7 billion of that total.
- In an endeavour to become a global centre for cryptocurrency trading and to build barriers to protect investors from dishonest actors, Hong Kong has been putting in place a wave of regulatory measures this year. Following the implementation of its new regulations on June 1, authorised crypto trading platforms were now able to provide services to individual investors.
- However, there have recently been issues in the region’s crypto business. In addition to the attacks, the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange JPEX was under investigation by the local police and financial authorities for fraud claims that cost 1,600 investors over US$154 million.
