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Phemex Suffered Gruelling Cyberattack with $31M Losses

Cyvers reported that Phemex's hot wallets sent over $29 million in cryptocurrency across multiple blockchains, including BNB, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Base.

On January 23rd, 2025, Phemex, a cryptocurrency exchange, temporarily suspended withdrawals after detecting approximately $31 million in suspicious outflows.

Notably, this action was taken in response to alerts from blockchain security firms, including Cyvers, which identified a series of concerning transactions.

Cyver Reported Phemex Cybersecurity Breach

Cyvers reported that Phemex’s hot wallets sent over $29 million in cryptocurrency across multiple blockchains, including BNB, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Base. Investigators flagged these outflows as suspicious; they involved approximately 125 transactions spanning 11 blockchains.

The report further noted that hackers had already converted some of the stolen assets to Ether (ETH). This is a common tactic to obfuscate the trail of stolen funds and potentially utilize crypto-mixing services like Tornado Cash to hinder further tracing.

In response to the security breach, Phemex swiftly announced the temporary suspension of withdrawals. According to the exchange, this measure is designed to facilitate a thorough security inspection and strengthen its wallet services. Phemex CEO Federico Variola reassured users via a social media post that the exchange’s cold wallets remain secure and are publicly verifiable.

According to Cyvers, 2024 witnessed a significant surge in crypto-related hacking incidents, resulting in losses exceeding $2.3 billion across 165 separate events – a 40% increase compared to 2023. This alarming statistic highlights the urgent need for enhanced security protocols within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Cyvers co-founder and CEO, Deddy Lavid, emphasized the importance of robust security practices, including offline storage of private keys and sophisticated real-time threat monitoring systems.

XT Exchange Similar Cyber-incident

On November 28th, hackers reportedly stole over $1 million worth of cryptocurrency from XT Exchange, ranked 23rd on CoinGecko’s list of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

The exchange immediately suspended all coin withdrawals, citing wallet upgrades and maintenance. This abrupt action frustrated many users, particularly due to the exchange’s lack of a detailed withdrawal resumption timeline.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield identified the hackers and reported they stole $1.7 million in cryptocurrencies. They quickly converted these assets into 461.58 ETH, now residing in a hacker wallet, 0xB43f…8F83.

However, XT Exchange released an official statement acknowledging the hack and assuring users of their asset safety. The statement explained that they detected an abnormal transfer of assets from platform wallet 0xdb3ded7731c781224ec292e2163d9554c094fd7c and that their technical team was urgently investigating.

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