HTX claws back $8M in stolen funds, issues 250 ETH bounty to hacker

Huobi Global’s crypto exchange HTX has confirmed the return of the funds stolen by a hacker in late September and issued a 250 Ether (ETH) bounty after resolving the issue.

One of HTX’s hot wallets was drained of 5,000 ETH on Sept. 25, worth roughly $8 million at the time. Shortly after the hack occurred, the firm contacted the hacker and claimed to know their identity.

HTX ultimately offered to pay a 5% bounty worth around $400,000 and to not take any legal action if they returned 95% of the funds before a deadline of Oct. 2.

It looks like the HTX/Huobi hacker has returned the funds (4997 ETH)

0x48bd1179529343c7a970045290fd2b0b1d946f64e17c443a528e24bf7cdbb817 pic.twitter.com/MknehuhM6x

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 7, 2023

In an Oct. 7 X post, Huobi Global investor and HTX adviser Justin Sun noted: “The hacker made the right choice. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone in the industry for their help!”

“Strengthening blockchain security and protecting user assets is never an easy task, and we have been working tirelessly! Providing full security for user assets is always our goal to strive for! We are thankful for the continued support of our users and community!” he added.

We have confirmed that the hacker has fully returned all funds, as promised, and we have also paid the hack a white hat bonus of 250 ETH. The hacker made the right choice. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone in the industry for their help! https://t.co/SwY49A25h2

— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) October 7, 2023

Hackers have been rampant in the third quarter of 2023. According to a recent report from blockchain security platform Immunefi, there have been 76 hacks on crypto and Web3 projects/firms in Q3 2023, compared to 30 from Q3 2022.

During the same week of the HTX hack, decentralized cross-chain protocol Mixin Network was also exploited for around $200 million after the attackers breached a third-party cloud service provider.

Mixin Network offered a $20 million bug bounty if they returned the funds, however, the feasibility of getting the funds back appears slim.

On Oct. 6, Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, suggested to Bloomberg that North Korean hackers may be behind the Mixin exploit.

“The tradecraft appears to be the same kind of tradecraft we’ve seen from the DPRK previously,” she said.

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