As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience in this volatile market, I’ve seen my fair share of ups and downs, hacks, and scams. The news about DMM Bitcoin losing $320 million in Bitcoin from a private key hack is yet another reminder of the risks that come with investing in cryptocurrencies.
It appears that reports suggest Japanese digital currency platform DMM Bitcoin is planning to shut down, following a significant loss of approximately $320 million worth of Bitcoins due to a private key breach in May. Unfortunately, the company has been unable to retrieve these assets since then.
According to Nikkei Asia’s report from December 2nd, the cryptocurrency exchange is allegedly halting efforts to restructure their operations and plans to move customer assets over to SBI VC Trade, a subsidiary of the SBI Group, by around March. The original source of this information was not disclosed in the report.
CryptoMoon reached out to DMM Bitcoin for comment.
$320M stolen from May hack
On May 30th, there was a security incident involving DMM Bitcoin’s servers and private keys. This incident, described by the company as an “unauthorized disclosure,” led to over 4,500 Bitcoins being stolen from a single wallet.
When the company announced that all user deposits were “completely safeguarded” at the point when they suspended withdrawals, new account creation, and trading activities.
Additionally, DMM exchange assured its clients that they would obtain an equal quantity of Bitcoin for each user involved, ensuring everyone receives their fair share. This process was facilitated with financial backing from our affiliated organizations.
Among all incidents in the region, DMM’s loss ranked as the second highest, surpassed only by the $530 million theft from Coincheck back in 2018.
In July, the blockchain detective ZachXBT found evidence suggesting that about $35 million of the stolen cryptocurrency was funneled into the popular online marketplace and known hub for crypto scams, Huione Guarantee, as part of a money laundering operation.
It was believed back then that the Lazarus Group could be responsible for the cyberattack, given the resemblance in money-laundering methods and certain off-chain signals they used.
The digital currency trading platform known as DMM exchange made its debut in January 2018, with ownership held by the expansive Japanese e-commerce group, DMM Group.
In November, DMM Crypto officially stated that they were ceasing operations for their Seamoon Protocol. The Seamoon Portal, a platform for Web3 gaming and content, was a project of DMM.com, their parent company, which showcased games and anime it had produced.
DMM Crypto collaborated with the stablecoin platform Progmat to launch its own stablecoin, aiming to strengthen the ecosystem. But as per a past statement translation, the company halted the project due to “recent swift adjustments in the business landscape” that posed difficulties for the project’s longevity.
2024 has seen a high number of security breaches at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. For instance, WazirX from India was hacked in July, resulting in a theft of around $235 million. Similarly, BingX based in Singapore suffered a hack in September, with losses amounting to approximately $52 million. Moreover, an exploit occurred on the Turkish exchange BtcTurk’s hot wallet in June, leading to potential losses of up to $55 million.
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2024-12-02 06:54