In a shocking turn of events, Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk suffered a major cyberattack, resulting in the theft of $54 million in Avalanche tokens. The breach, which targeted ten of BtcTurk’s hot wallets, was discovered following suspicious transfers over the weekend. Fortunately, the exchange confirmed that its cold wallets, holding the bulk of its assets, remain secure.
Binance CEO Richard Teng took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is aiding in the investigation. Binance has already frozen over $5.3 million of the stolen funds. This swift action demonstrates Binance’s commitment to security within the crypto community.
Renowned blockchain investigator ZachXBT conducted a timing analysis, confirming the suspicious transfers were linked to the hack. The stolen Avalanche tokens were moved to exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase using THORChain and subsequently withdrawn as Bitcoin to two separate wallets. This activity coincided with BtcTurk’s disclosure of the breach.
Adding to the complexity, the Avalanche wallet involved was previously flagged by a blockchain researcher as belonging to a Turkish exchange, solidifying the connection to BtcTurk. Further investigations revealed that the same hacker likely targeted online casino Sportsbet, stealing over $3.5 million just two hours before the BtcTurk breach. Sportsbet has since reported “Cashier Maintenance” issues, halting transactions and gameplay involving BTC and BNB.
The cyberattack caused a temporary 10% drop in Avalanche’s price, though it has since rebounded by 5% from its lowest point on Saturday. This incident underscores the urgent need for enhanced security measures in the cryptocurrency sector to protect against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
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