Cryptocurrency hacks remain one of the most significant issues of the crypto world and have dominated the headlines in 2021. Malicious actors have catered away hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto from across the globe. There’s no guarantee that this won’t continue to play out in 2022.
Last week, Bitmart was on the wrong side of the news, as a $150M occurred on the Chinese exchange. This week, another exchange, AscendEX lost $80M in a similar fashion. The security breach affected the platform’s Ethereum and Polygon hot wallets and raised speculations that the users on the exchange would lose their assets.
AscendEX Reassures Users of Safety of Their Assets
AscendEX saw the panic the hack caused to users and quickly responded by reassuring everyone that their funds were safe. For now, the statement will mitigate the damage the hack would cause to the platform’s reputation.
On Thursday this week, AscendEX released a statement explaining the cause of the attack. According to the security audit report, the breach happened due to a hardware exploit from third-party structures used by the protocol. Experienced perpetrators carried out the act. The exchange said it would disclose further information about the incident if available.
AscendEX has been doing a pretty good job of getting users from across the globe. In November, AscendEX closed a $50M Series B funding. The funding included Polychain Capital and Jump Capital, giving the exchange a global presence despite strict Chinese regulations. However, the recent exploitation of the exchange might do more harm to their image.
Huobi Restricts Account Holders
One of the prominent exchanges in Asia, Huobi, announced the restriction of millions of Chinese users. This came after the exchange revealed its decision to leave China due to its crypto regulatory policies. According to Huobi, Chinese users have until the end of the year to cash out their assets and the over-the-counter services are stopped.
Huobi’s leaving is a sad one to many Chinese. Before Binance’s boom in 2017, Huobi was the favorite spot trading platform for Chinese crypto traders. The platform was once the largest by volume.
Huobi’s decision to leave wasn’t abrupt. The platform tried reasoning with local regulators in Beijing and other parts of China, such as Hainan. However, they gave no listening ear to Huobi as they maintained their no-nonsense approach to forcing crypto exchanges out of the country.
China’s crypto regulations hit Huobi the hardest, and the effect is still apparent today. Currently, the company’s management is in crisis as top executives leave. The latest individual to go is Ciara Sun, who headed global assets.
Sun had worked on several businesses focused on development before her appointment on Huobi’s board. After working for over two years, she has decided to move into Web3 development and the metaverse. Chief Operating Officer at Huobi Global Robin Zhu also retired, compounding their woes.
All hope isn’t lost for Huobi. The exchange has indicated that its new regional H.Q. will be in Singapore. Coincidentally, this was the same country that Binance had abandoned due to regulatory indifferences.
