BtcTurk News Update:
Turkey’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, BtcTurk, announced on Saturday that it had been hacked, with a prominent Bitcoin analyst estimating the stolen amount to be nearly 51 million euros.
“Our teams detected a cyber attack on our platform on June 22, 2024, resulting in uncontrolled withdrawals. Only some balances in the hot wallets of 10 cryptocurrencies were affected, while our cold wallets, which hold the majority of assets, remain secure,” BtcTurk stated.
Hot wallets are connected to the internet and susceptible to hacking, whereas cold wallets are offline and thus more secure.
“BtcTurk’s financial reserves far exceed the amounts impacted by this attack, ensuring user assets remain unaffected,” the exchange assured. They are conducting a detailed investigation and have informed security authorities.
As a precaution, cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals have been temporarily halted and will resume once the issue is resolved. BtcTurk promised to keep users updated.
Bitcoin analyst ZachXBT suggested on X that the culprit might be linked to an address moving 1.96 million AVAX (worth $54.2 million) to Coinbase and THORChain. The analyst provided a cryptocurrency address in the post.
Cryptocurrencies are highly popular in Turkey, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency trading market globally. Usage surged after 2020 as a hedge against the lira’s decline.
Last year, Faruk Fatih Ozer, founder of Thodex, another major Turkish cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced to 11,196 years for defrauding investors of millions of dollars in an exit scam.
