Huobi Hacked For $8 Million Worth Of ETH, Offers Hacker 5% Bounty

According to Arkham Intel, the Huobi crypto exchange platform (HTX) fell victim to a hacking incident resulting in the theft of 5000 ETH, valued at approximately $8 million. The hacker reportedly moved 1,000 ETH to a separate wallet, 0x799, shortly after compromising the platform and has since remained silent.

Justin Sun, the Founder of TRON and an Advisor to Huobi, confirmed the incident on X (formerly Twitter), stating that HTX suffered a loss of 5,000 ETH due to the hack. Sun stated:

HTX has suffered a loss of 5,000 ETH ($8 million USD) due to a hacker attack. HTX has fully covered the losses incurred from the attack and has successfully resolved all related issues. All user assets are SAFU and the platform is operating completely normally.

Sun reassured users that HTX had fully covered the losses and resolved all related issues. He emphasized that user assets were secure and that the platform operated normally. 

According to Sun, the stolen amount of $8 million represents a relatively small fraction compared to the $3 billion worth of assets held by HTX users and is equivalent to just two weeks’ revenue for the platform.

Sun further stated that the hack was detected immediately after the incident on September 24th. HTX swiftly took action to prevent further losses and promptly addressed all issues, restoring the platform to its normal state immediately. Trading operations have continued without interruption.

Notably, as an incentive for the hacker to return the stolen funds, HTX offers a 5% white hat reward of $400,000. Additionally, if the hacker returns the funds, they will be considered for a position as a security white hat advisor for HTX. On this matter, Sun claimed: 

We are willing to offer 5% of the stolen amount (400,000 USD) as a white hat reward to encourage the hacker to return the stolen funds. If the hacker returns the funds, we will also hire them as a security white hat advisor for HTX.

However, if the hacker fails to return the funds within seven days, HTX will transfer the information to law enforcement authorities for further action and potential prosecution.

The native token of the exchange, HT, is currently trading at $2.44, reflecting a 1.3% decline in the past 24 hours following the revelation of the hack that occurred on Sunday. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com