HTX Exchange Experience $258 Million Withdrawal Weeks After Hack

In an unexpected turn, HTX suddenly hit $258 million in transactions weeks after a cyberattack on November 22. The intrusion reached the HECO Chain Bridge, which led to the $30 million exploitation of HTX. The hack that made its way to the HECO Chain Bridge and targeted HTX has sparked worries about the security of cryptocurrency exchanges.

CoinMarketCap has revealed that HTX has about $2.3 billion in reserves at press time. However, $258 million has left the platform due to the most recent breach, causing a significant outflow. Justin Sun, HTX boss, in his latest update on his X handle, spoke about the ongoing investigation into the recent hack. He hinted at the exchange’s commitment to compensate its customers for their losses.

Records showed that HTX had experienced a security breach that cost them over $8 million earlier in September this year. According to a report by BlockSec, a cyber security company, said that the said a little over $8 million lost in September was successfully recovered. The current $30 million lost in the latest hack is still in the hands of the hackers, meaning that the vulnerability of the company’s security apparatus has grossly increased.

Exchange Recounts Incident, Reveals Amount Contained in It’s Reserve

Analyzing the amount in HTX’s reserve, about one-third of the assets are in Bitcoin. One of the main pillars of HTX’s reserve management is Bitcoin’s standing as a leading digital asset and reserve of value. Additional investigation reveals that other popular tokens are included in the reserve diversification.

As published by Industry Wired, three-two percent of the reserve is made up of the TRX token, which is connected to Justin Sun’s projects. The HTX exchange’s native coin, HT, comes in right behind at 14%. The stablecoin stUSDT, backed by the Sun, also adds 12% to the total reserve.

This diverse portfolio implies that HTX used a combination of popular cryptocurrencies and tokens connected to the Sun-led ecosystem to balance its budget. Sun, a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency space and the founder of TRON, has frequently drawn attention to his initiatives. As a component of the TRON ecosystem, the HTX exchange is essential to Sun’s larger vision for blockchain technology and decentralized finance.

CoinMarketCap Ranks HTX #16 In Biggest Exchange In Trading Volume

Following the hack, Parvin Mohamad from Industry Wired, while speaking at the event, said that the HTX team is supposed to examine its security procedures thoroughly and put policies in place to stop future occurrences of this kind of thing. 

Data obtained from DefiLlama on November 25, the same day that HTX reopened its platform for business, said that the company had a little over $258 million. Another data from CoinMarketCap ranked HTX #16 in the cryptocurrency exchange by 25 hours of trading volume (as of press time). It published that it has a total of $1.6 billion daily trading. 

Mr. Sun, on reopening the platform on November 25, publicly reassured its customers affected by the hack that their assets would be refunded in full. He also added that an investigation into the case has already commenced. However, Sun has also explained that the Poloniex exchange worth a little over $100 million on November 10 was caused by (what he termed) a “breach in private key.