Hackers steal over $4M in crypto from Singaporean exchange Bitrue

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange Bitrue has suffered a major hack on its platform today in which it lost more than $4.2 million in user assets, the exchange confirmed in a series of tweets.

Dear Bitrue Users,

First of all, please let us assure you that this situation is under control, 100% of lost funds will be returned to users, and we are reviewing our security measures and policies to ensure this does not happen again.
— Bitrue (@BitrueOfficial) June 27, 2019

At approximately 1am June 27 (GMT+8), a hacker exploited a vulnerability in our Risk Control team's 2nd review process to access the personal funds of about 90 Bitrue users.
— Bitrue (@BitrueOfficial) June 27, 2019

Hackers were able to access the Bitrue hot wallet and move 9.3 million XRP (approximately $4 million) and 2.5 million ADA (approximately $230,000) to different exchanges.

“The attack was soon detected, and activity was temporarily suspended on Bitrue. We alerted the receiving exchanges about the situation, and wish to extend our thanks to @HuobiGlobal, @BittrexExchange and @ChangeNOW_io for their help in freezing the affected funds and accounts,” Bitrue said.

The exchange further assured its users that their personal funds are insured and affected users will have their “funds replaced by us as soon as possible.”

Bitrue is currently conducting an emergency inspection of its platform and expects to go live again soon. However, it added that withdrawals will stay offline for a longer period.

The exchange also said that it has informed relevant authorities in Singapore of the breach.

Earlier this year, another Singapore-based exchange DragonEx lost $7 million in a hack. Globally, a number of cryptocurrency exchanges have suffered major security breaches this year, including Binance, Bithumb, and others.