According to different users, the Crypto.com exchange could have suffered a theft worth 16 million dollars yesterday. Cryptocurrency withdrawals were suspended throughout the day with several users reporting losses of between 2 and 5 ETH on their accounts. Although Kris Marszalek, CEO of the company, denies that funds from clients were lost, the computer attack has severely affected the public image of the company.
Alleged theft at Crypto.com
Crypto.com had crept into our daily lives through a very powerful marketing campaign. Sponsorship agreements with Matt Damon, Los Angeles Lakers, Formula 1 or Paris Saint-Germain had achieved a very strong brand image in the crypto world. However, the attack suffered could be a setback for the company and its expectations for the future.
two versions
Throughout the day yesterday, numerous users reported that money had been stolen from their accounts. For example, the well-known businessman Ben Baller, published a series of Tweets in which he recounted his experience and how money had disappeared from his account. «I have sent a message to Crypto.com, since they have subtracted 4.28 ETH from my account. Also, I wonder how they managed to get past two-factor authentication,” Baller stressed.
It’s wild. After some digging. Since after my 4.28ETH was taken from my @cryptocom wallet, I began to check their ETH wallet and in the last 6 hours they’ve been cleaned out for about 5,000ETH! So this ain’t just a small amount of users. That’s $16M
– BEN BALLER @ (@BENBALLER) January 17, 2022
After investigating more about the attack suffered, Baller realized that he was not the only one affected. Yesterday, those responsible for the attack managed to steal around 5,000 ETH with small attacks on different users. That is, a total of 16 million dollars, according to Baller.
What is the secret of Crypto.com, the exchange that is everywhere, even on TV?
Dogecoin (DOGE) founder Billy Markus also reported the attack on his Twitter account. “I have detected strange activity in one of the Crypto.com wallets. It is a pattern, many wallets are sending transactions between 2 to 5 ETH to a new wallet. “Are the internal transfers of the system and the funds safe? Hackers withdrawing funds from exchange wallets? Markus wondered.
Internal system transfers and funds are safe? Inside job gone awry like office space? Hackers taking funds from an exchange hot wallet? 🤷♂️
Never a dull day in the world of crypto.
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@ BillyM2k) January 17, 2022
The company denies any funds were lost.
On the other hand, the CEO of the exchange, Kris Marszalek, released a tweet earlier today in which he denies that users have lost funds. Marszalek notes that the security team hardened the infrastructure in response to the incident, during the time withdrawals were blocked, but that no user ever lost money. Marszalek says he’s happy about the “opportunity” the attack has given him to further strengthen his build.
Some thoughts from me on the last 24 hours:
– no customer funds were lost
– the downtime of withdrawal infra was ~14 hours
– our team has hardened the infrastructure in response to the incidentWe will share a full post mortem after the internal investigation is completed.
– Kris | Crypto.com (@Kris_HK) January 18, 2022
Disappointed users
Despite the fact that today several users have reported that the stolen funds have been returned to them, a large part of the clients are disappointed by the way in which Crypto.com has handled the situation. The company has not yet said anything about the attack and they feel worried and insecure with the platform. Also, many are very angry about the time the platform was down.
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