Liquid Global, a renowned Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, has been hacked.
Some of the corporation’s digital currency wallets have been “compromised,” according to the company. This is the second large cryptocurrency theft in the last few days. Poly Network, a digital token network, was the target of a $600 million robbery recently.
“We are sorry to announce that #LiquidGlobal warm wallets were compromised, we are moving assets into the cold wallet,” the company said on Twitter.
Important Notice:
— Liquid Global Official (@Liquid_Global) August 19, 2021
We are sorry to announce that #LiquidGlobal warm wallets were compromised, we are moving assets into the cold wallet.
We are currently investigating and will provide regular updates. In the meantime deposits and withdrawals will be suspended.
Warm or ‘hot’ digital wallets are usually online and meant to make it easier for users to access their cryptocurrency, whereas ‘cold’ wallets are offline and more difficult to access, and thus more safe.
Elliptic, a blockchain analytics business, estimated that roughly $97 million in cryptocurrencies had been stolen, with Bitcoin and Ethereum tokens among the haul.
Liquid said it was tracking the stolen coins’ movements and collaborating with other exchanges to freeze and retrieve the money. Liquid, which was founded in 2014, now operates in over 100 countries and serves millions of customers. According to CoinMarketCap data, it is one of the top 20 largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by daily trading volumes.
Liquid isn’t the only Japanese cryptocurrency exchange that’s been hacked. MtGox, a Tokyo-based exchange, collapsed in 2014 after nearly half a billion dollars in bitcoin was stolen, while Coincheck was hacked in a $530 million robbery in 2018.
A hacker exploited a vulnerability in the system of blockchain site Poly Network, stealing $600 million. Since then, the hacker known as ‘Mr White Hat’ has returned over $427 million in assets.
