XT Exchange Suspends Withdrawals Following $1.7M Hack

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As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience in this volatile yet exciting market, I must admit that news like the one about XT Exchange does give me a moment of pause. However, it is not my first rodeo, and I have learned to navigate these storms with a calm demeanor.

The XT Exchange, which handles trades valued at more than $3 billion in cryptocurrencies every day, has temporarily halted coin withdrawals. According to a notice sent to its users, this action is being taken for “upgrading and maintaining” their digital wallets.

Hacker Swaps $1.7M Theft to Ethereum

Approximately an hour ago, it was reported by well-known security firm PeckShield that XT.com appeared to have been hacked by malicious parties. According to PeckShield’s findings, the attacker caused a loss of approximately $1.7 million in cryptocurrency on the exchange.

According to PeckShield, right after the hacker successfully drained the funds, they quickly exchanged them for approximately 461.58 ETH worth around $3,544 at that moment. The current 24-hour volatility of Ethereum stands at 0.4%, while its market cap is roughly $427.24 billion, and the total volume traded in the last 24 hours amounts to approximately $44.07 billion. The swapped Ethereum now resides in a wallet with the address “0xB43f…8F83.

In a recent update from me, as a researcher, I reported an occurrence on the XT Exchange. They labeled this event as an “unusual transaction involving the platform’s digital wallet assets.

🚨 XT Statement on Abnormal Transfer of Platform Wallet Assets 🚨

Today, it was found that an unusual transaction originated from our platform’s digital wallet. You can feel confident that this situation won’t impact our valued users in any way. 💪

🔒 We always maintain reserves 1.5x greater than user assets to ensure maximum security.

Our…

— XT Exchange (@XTexchange) November 28, 2024

Despite the recent incident, XT is confident that their users are unaffected. The platform has consistently maintained reserves 1.5 times larger than the value of user assets, ensuring a high level of security.

Additionally, XT mentioned they are employing a group of analysts to look into the matter. Maintaining their dedication to safeguarding their users’ resources, they suggested taking an action aimed at enhancing the platform’s security.

By mid-December, XT plans to introduce the Merkel Tree Asset Proof System. This action aims to boost user trust and establish a more transparent environment within the ecosystem. After this development, the industry will closely monitor XT to gauge its resilience during challenging times and assess how its security measures react.

XT Users’ Concerns and Industry Implications

In 2018, the XT cryptocurrency exchange, headquartered in Seychelles, began operations and specializes in centralized cryptocurrency trading. It supports over a thousand different digital currencies. Unfortunately, it has been added to the growing list of crypto exchanges that have experienced security breaches by malicious entities.

Although XT released a statement about the incident and the suspension of coin withdrawals, it seems that users are feeling uneasy or upset about the situation. The users’ responses to the hack announcement can be seen as expressing dissatisfaction.

On topic X, Nitin (@NG_Exhales), while expressing gratitude for the update, pressed for additional details. “This is comforting news. Thank you. But might I ask, could you provide us with a timeline? When exactly are withdrawals scheduled to resume?

If the recovery period continues, it may provide an opportunity for speculative manipulation regarding scaling. In the crypto community, there’s been a growing demand for XT to explain in detail how the malicious party managed to exploit the exchange.

As a cryptocurrency analyst, I’ve recently observed that the XT incident underscores the persistent security issues within our industry. Not only are institutions at risk, but individual investors have also experienced substantial financial setbacks.

Coinspeaker recently reported a crypto trader who lost $36 million in a phishing attack. The malicious actors gained control after the trader signed a “permit” phishing signature that allowed access to their digital wallet.

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2024-11-28 19:06