In a startling turn of events, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Remitano, has become the target of a major security breach. Over $2.7 million worth of funds from both Ethereum and TRON wallets have mysteriously disappeared, leaving the crypto community worried and searching for answers.
The Incident:
According to PeckShieldAlert, a prominent blockchain security firm, the attacker behind this massive breach successfully drained the Remitano exchange’s wallet, taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the system. In an attempt to thwart the attack, Tether, the popular stablecoin provider, froze two addresses on both Ethereum and TRON, potentially saving $2.7 million worth of USDT tokens.
The Ethereum Heist:
The individual responsible for the Ethereum theft embarked on a sophisticated process. The stolen USDC and Ankr tokens were swiftly swapped for approximately 163 ETH, worth around $264,000. These funds were then transferred to HitBTC, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange. While it is unclear if the stolen assets were immediately cashed out or held for further laundering attempts, the incident has certainly raised concerns about the security measures in place at exchanges like HitBTC.
The BNBChain Laundering Operation:
In addition to the Ethereum theft, the hackers executed a large-scale operation on the BNBChain. They laundered roughly 13,000 BNB tokens, equivalent to around $2.7 million, utilizing an intermediary address: 0x9d5a. From this address, the funds were either directly transferred to multiple centralized exchanges (CEXs), including OKX, ChangeNow, MEXC, and Binance, or routed through TornadoCash and SWFT Blockchain to obscure their origin.
A Move to the BSC Token Hub:
To further obfuscate the stolen funds’ trail, the hackers bridged a portion of the stolen assets to ARB tokens and swiftly transferred them out to the BSC Token Hub. By leveraging these decentralized bridges, the hackers aimed to avoid detection and potentially cash out or distribute the funds without arousing suspicion.
The recent hacking incident, involving the Remitano exchange, highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the cryptocurrency industry in terms of security. While Tether’s swift action in freezing the attacker’s addresses has potentially saved $2.7 million worth of USDT, many questions remain. Investigators, including PeckShieldAlert and other experts, will continue to analyze the data and follow the stolen funds in an attempt to identify the culprits and potentially recover the stolen assets.
As the crypto community grapples with these security breaches, it is imperative for exchanges and platform developers to enhance their security measures, conduct regular audits, and implement proactive safeguards against such attacks. Additionally, users must remain vigilant and adopt best practices, such as utilizing hardware wallets and enabling two-factor authentication, to protect their own assets in this increasingly vulnerable digital landscape.
