ZB Exchange Suspends Withdrawals Following a $5M Hack

  • According to the announcement, ZB realized it has been exploited after blockchain security firm PeckShield took to social media.
  • The firm disclosed that up to $4.8 million in over 20 cryptocurrencies, including SHIB, USDT, MATIC, had been transferred out of the exchange’s hot wallet.

ZB Exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform that markets itself as the “world’s most secure exchange” has reportedly lost about $5 million to a cyber attack. Following the attack, the company announced it has paused withdrawal services for users.

The multi million dollar suspected hack marks the latest in a series of security breaches to befall cryptocurrency companies this year. Worth noting, the unfortunate event sees ZB exchange on the list of cryptocurrency companies that have suffered a huge loss to malicious exploits in the past week.

Despite the financial injuries caused by the recent market crash which have seen retail and institutional investors suffering heavy losses, malicious actors are increasingly becoming an additional salt to the wound as they are not relenting on exploiting people off their funds.

A Closer Look at ZB Exchange Hack

According to the announcement, the company realized it has been exploited after blockchain security firm PeckShield took to social medial to disclose that up to $4.8 million in over 20 cryptocurrencies, including SHIB, USDT, MATIC, and other cryptocurrencies had been transferred out of the exchange’s hot wallet.

PeckShield further disclosed that the tokens were later sold on several decentralized exchanges for ether (ETH). However, reports revealed that the exchange is yet to publicly confirm the hack nor respond to the media’s quest for a comment on the incident.

Although ZB exchange did not immediately react to the information from PeckShield, it later disclosed plans to suspend withdrawals for its users on Tuesday. The crypto company noted that the paused withdrawal services were for the purpose of a “temporary maintenance”.

“Due to the sudden failure of some core applications, it still takes time to troubleshoot the problem. Deposit and withdrawal services are now suspended. Please do not deposit any digital currency before recovery. Any change is subject to the announcement,” the company said.

Although ZB exchange did not specifically disclose that it has suffered a huge loss,  its decision to halt withdrawals suggests it may be currently troubled. Moreover, the move follows closely with PeckShield’s announcement that revealed the multi million dollar loss of funds. Thus, the incident is traceable to exploits from hackers. Notably, several media companies are still waiting for ZB exchange to comment on the alleged hack incident.

The cryptocurrency industry continues to suffer from persisting cases of cyber attacks as billions of dollars are reportedly drained from experimental DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols every year. This may suggest that the decentralized community possesses a weak security structure. Nonetheless, firms are seeking to deploy possible mechanisms that can help strengthen the security level of the DeFi space.

Rebecca Davidson Verified

Rebecca is a Senior Staff Writer at BitcoinWisdom, working hard to bring you the latest breaking news in the cryptocurrency market. In the words of Elon Musk “Buy stock in several companies that make products & services that *you* believe in. Only sell if you think their products & services are trending worse. Don’t panic when the market does. This will serve you well in the long-term.”

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