Indodax Crypto Exchange Suffers $20 Million Hack

On Tuesday, Indonesian crypto exchange Indodax reportedly lost over $20 million to a hack. Blockchain security firm Cyvers detected these unauthorized transactions across multiple networks.

Initially, the suspicious activity involved about $14.4 million in assets converted to Ethereum (ETH). However, within a few hours, Cyvers updated its report, confirming that the compromised funds had escalated to over $20 million.

Indodax Hack: Scammers Reportedly Accessed Private Keys

Detailed breakdowns provided by an observer named Tay showed that the stolen assets included 5,204 Ethereum valued at $12.37 million, 6.8 million POL tokens worth $2.64 million, and 16.7 million Tron (TRX) tokens totaling $2.55 million.

Additionally, 25.01 Bitcoin (BTC), estimated at $1.44 million, miscellaneous ERC-20 tokens worth $1.2 million, and 380 ETH on the Optimism network valued at $900,000 were taken.

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Following this incident, Indodax announced that it was conducting “complete maintenance” to review and fortify its entire system. Consequently, the Indodax web platform and application have been temporarily disabled.

“But don’t worry, we can assure you that your balance remains 100% safe both in crypto and rupiah,” Indodax said.

Although the specifics of the breach or the exact potential losses have not been disclosed, Daddy Lavid, CEO of Cyvers, told BeInCrypto that the intrusion might involve access control issues or leakage of private keys.

Furthermore, this is not Indodax’s first security challenge. According to BeInCrypto Indonesia, in June 2023, regional police arrested two fraudsters who impersonated Indodax through fake social media accounts. These criminals deceived potential investors with phony investment opportunities, swindling approximately 625 million Indonesian Rupiah (~$40,500).

Indodax, boasting a user base of over 6.8 million across various regions, remains one of Indonesia’s prominent crypto exchanges. This incident highlights the broader vulnerabilities within the cryptocurrency exchange sector. For example, in July 2024, WazirX, one of India’s largest crypto platforms, suffered a $234.9 million hack.

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These incidents are increasingly common, as the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported over 69,000 complaints regarding cyber-enabled crimes and financial fraud involving cryptocurrencies in 2023, with losses exceeding $5.6 billion. Investment fraud was the most prevalent and financially damaging of these scams, responsible for approximately $3.9 billion in losses.

“Scams targeting investors who use cryptocurrency are skyrocketing in severity and complexity. The best way to help stop these crimes is for people to report them,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.