South Korean cryptocurrency exchange GDAC has suffered a hack that has caused it to lose approximately $13.9 million in digital assets. On April 10, GDAC CEO Han Seunghwan announced that the exchange had paused all deposits and withdrawals and was performing emergency server maintenance in response to the attack.
Notice on #GDAC Exchange Hack Alertâšï¸
GDAC Exchange has officially announced that it has experienced a security breach
Please refer to the official announcements made by the Exchange
â–¶ï¸ GDAC Announcement: https://t.co/SNRFZTMEYgWEMIX Medium: https://t.co/7UIwyua72K
—WEMIX (@WemixNetwork) April 10, 2023
According to the announcement, the attacker gained control of some of the exchange’s hot wallets on the morning of April 9, and at 7 a.m. Korean Standard Time, began moving cryptocurrencies into their wallets. Around 61 Bitcoin (BTC), 350.5 Ether (ETH), 10 million of the WEMIX in-game currency, and $220,000 worth of Tether (USDT) were stolen in the attack. This represents a total of USD 13.9 million in cryptocurrencies at prices of April 10.
The amount stolen represents “approximately 23% of Gdac’s current total assets in custody,” according to the statement. The exchange has alerted the police, reported the hack to the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA), and notified the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the losses caused by the attack.
GDAC is also asking cryptocurrency exchanges not to accept deposits made from the address that carried out the attack.
Seunghwan said that the exchange does not know when withdrawals will resume. “We ask you to understand that it is difficult to confirm the point of resumption of deposits and withdrawals, since the investigation is currently ongoing,” he said, according to a translation made with Google Translate.
Hacks of centralized exchanges continue to be a problem in the cryptocurrency sector. Case in point: Crypto.com was hacked for over $15 million in January 2022. In the midst of a liquidity crisis at FTX, an attacker drained $663 million from the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. The GDAC attack may be the first major hack of a centralized exchange in 2023.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information presented here should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the entire amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not directed or accessible to investors in Spain.