According to recent findings, Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange ZB.com lost nearly $5 million to hackers earlier this week before the platform suspended withdrawals and deposits due to system maintenance.
Blockchain explorer Etherscan revealed that cryptocurrencies such as USDT, MATIC, AAVE, USDC, and 17 other tokens were drained from an Ethereum hot wallet belonging to the exchange into the attacker’s wallet, where the bad actor has sent the stolen funds into decentralized exchanges, some of which are Uniswap and 1inch.
At the time of writing, only about 5 ETH (approximately $8,100) was remaining in ZB’s hot wallet.
ZB.com Suspends Deposits and Withdrawal Services
The development comes around the same time that ZB.com announced that it was suspending deposits and withdrawal services, claiming that its system was experiencing “sudden failure of core applications.”
The announcement, which came on Tuesday, saw the Hong Kong-based exchange reassuring users that the action was temporary. It further urged users not to deposit funds into their accounts until the system is restored.
While the exchange claims to be undergoing system maintenance and has made no official comment about the funds being drained, the mass transfer of crypto assets from its hot wallet suggests a security breach.
It is noteworthy that the native token of ZB.com, $ZB, saw some decline shortly after the announcement of the deposits and withdrawal services halt. While the token traded above $0.1 over the weekend, it has dropped to a current trading price of $0.083, signifying around a 20% drop.
Crypto Hacks on the Rise
It has been a while since a centralized crypto exchange got hacked. In recent times, decentralized exchanges have been the focal point for bad actors. The latest of such hacks is the Nomad Bridge exploit that cost the platform $200 million.
Last week, Solana-based project Nirvana was exploited by a hacker who used flash loans to manipulate the prices of assets on the platform. Following this, the hacker was able to bag $3.49 million from the protocol’s Treasury.
