Lykke Crypto Exchange Suspends Trading Following $22 Million Hack

Lykke, a UK-based crypto exchange, has reportedly shut down its trading operations after an alleged hacking incident resulted in a loss of over $22 million. The incident which was first reported by on-chain sleuths on Additionally, the situation highlights the need to implement strict security measures in cryptocurrency exchanges.

Hacker trades stolen crypto

June 4, On-Chain Investigator SomaXBT reported that Lykke had been hacked and mined for approximately $19.5 million worth of crypto (158 BTC and 2,161 ETH). At the time, he pointed out that the exchange team was still hiding the fact.

Later digging discovered that the hacker had already exchanged all the stolen Ethereum (ETH) coins for DAI, an algorithmic stablecoin issued by MakerDAO and the third largest stablecoin by market capitalization, and transferred the BTC to multiple wallets. Additionally, Taylor Monahan, a developer at MetaMask, revealed that the amount of assets stolen from the platform has increased. exceeded $22 million.

Lykke cites ‘security breach’, assures fund users’ safety

While the exchange team was initially silent about the incident, several users of the exchange voiced their complaints, claiming that they were unable to withdraw their assets from the platform. However, on June 10, the exchange officially released a statement on X citing a “security breach.” According to its statement, Lykke UK and Lykke Corp AG suffered an attack on their systems on June 4, which resulted in an immediate shutdown of the affected systems in order to limit the damage. “The security vulnerabilities identified have been thoroughly investigated and fully resolved,” the exchange said. said.

Lykke further highlighted that it maintains strong financial stability through its strong reserve and diversified portfolio. Additionally, the exchange revealed that it had discovered the attacker’s IP address, adding that an external criminal investigation had been launched to bring the attacker to justice. The statement ends by emphasizing the need to close the exchange to avoid further losses while the investigation is ongoing. A look at the exchange website displays a warning that the exchange is under maintenance until further notice.

Source: Lykke website

Lykke is the second cryptocurrency exchange to be tapped in the last two weeks, after DMM Bitcoin whose platform saw $320 million taken on May 31. These sad events highlight the urgent need to strengthen security protocols across all digital platforms.

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