Centralized cryptocurrency exchange XT has suffered a cyberattack, resulting in the loss of $1.7 million. According to the company, withdrawals were temporarily suspended due to "maintenance work and a wallet update." However, the analytics platform PeckShieldAlert confirmed that the reason for the suspension was the theft of funds.
According to blockchain researchers, the attacker converted the stolen assets into 461.58 ETH. These funds are currently in a wallet that has already been identified by PeckShield.
The XT team acknowledged the fact of the "anomalous transaction," emphasizing that user funds were not affected. In an official statement, the platform assured customers that their assets were protected, as the exchange's reserves exceed user funds by 1.5 times. As a measure to increase trust, by mid-December 2024, the developers promised to implement the Merkel Tree Asset Proof system, which will ensure transparency of transactions.
XT was founded in 2018 and operates as a centralized crypto exchange. Its platform offers more than 1,000 trading pairs, and the daily transaction volume, according to CoinGecko, reaches $3.35 billion.
It is worth noting that incidents of this kind are not uncommon in the crypto sphere. For example, in 2019, as a result of hacking the Upbit exchange, North Korean hackers stole 342,000 ETH. This highlights the importance of strengthening security measures in the crypto industry.