Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk hacked for $49M after $55M loss last year
Just over a year after suffering a $55 million hack, Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk has been attacked again, this time losing tokens worth $49 million.
BtcTurk has acknowledged the suspicious withdrawals via an announcement on X, assuring users that their funds will not be affected.
Blockchain security firm Cyvers flagged losses across seven blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Avalanche, and various ETH L2s.
Read more: Crypto exchange WOO X suspends withdrawals, users hacked for $14M
The stolen funds are currently spread across at least three addresses, identified by fellow security firm SlowMist; 0xa041 holds approximately $24 million, 0x7D91 holds $20 million, and 0x0fE4 holds $4.5 million, according to data from cross-chain portfolio tracker Debank.
At the time of writing, blockchain data show the hacker is currently in the process of swapping stolen tokens for ETH and draining additional, lower value, coins.
Significant price drops in affected assets have accompanied the hack, possibly linked to the hacker’s fire sale.
The transfers of large quantities of a variety of tokens were made directly from BtcTurk-labelled wallets on separate chains.
In June of last year, a similar attack hit BtcTurk, leading to losses worth $55 million. Crypto audit firm Halborn’s report of the incident suspected that a leaked private key was the attack vector in that case.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
While crypto’s acceptance by the mainstream is slower in Europe, Asia and the US, regions facing political instability or a volatile local currency have seen enthusiastic adoption elsewhere.
Indeed, Turkey and Argentina are prime examples of crypto’s use-case as a way for citizens to acquire crypto dollars rather than holding rapidly inflating local currency.
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