Huobi Global’s
HTX exchange fell victim to a major hack on September 24, resulting in the loss
of $7.9 million worth of digital assets. The breach was brought to light by
blockchain analytics platform Cyvers, sending shockwaves through the crypto
community.
However, what
sets this incident apart is the exchange’s claim to have unmasked the hacker’s
identity and a surprising offer of a “white-hat bonus” to the
culprit, provided they return most of the stolen funds. A message, written in
Chinese, emerged from a known Huobi hot wallet, addressed directly to the
hacker.
Huobi Global’s
Response to the Crypto Heist
The message
asserted that Huobi Global had successfully identified the attacker and had an
unconventional proposition. The exchange offered to let the hacker retain 5% of
the stolen funds as a “white-hat bonus” if they chose to return the
remaining 95%.
🚨Red Code🚨Yesterday, our ML-powered system detected a suspicious transaction involving @HuobiGlobal and @HTX_Global.
Despite our attempts to reach out, we received no response. An EOA received 5K $ETH $7.9M from @HuobiGlobal‘s hot wallet.🔍 This morning, we spotted… pic.twitter.com/3oqHhAVi8P
— 🚨 Cyvers Alerts 🚨 (@CyversAlerts) September 25, 2023
On the morning
of September 24, at 10:00 am UTC, the suspected Huobi hot wallet executed a
transfer, sending 4,999 Ether, equivalent to approximately $7.9 million, to an
address without any previous transaction history. This transfer marked the
beginning of a chain of events that led to the proposition of a white-hat bonus
by the exchange
