Crypto exchange Remitano experienced significant withdrawals under suspicious circumstances on Sept. 14, leading some blockchain analysts to suspect a possible hack. The suspicious transactions involved the withdrawal of $2.7 million worth of crypto. Tether has taken action by freezing one of the addresses allegedly used by the attacker, thereby safeguarding $1.4 million worth of customers’ crypto.
At around 12:45 pm, a known Remitano hot wallet initiated transfers to an address that had no prior transaction history. The transferred funds included approximately $1.4 million worth of Tether (USDT), $208,000 worth of USD Coin (USDC), and 104,000 Ankr tokens (valued at $2,000 at that time).
Cyvers, a blockchain analytics platform, has alerted the crypto community about these suspicious transactions.
ALERTOur ML-driven system has detected multiple anomalous transactions with @remitano exchange, resulting in a total loss of $2.7M across 3 chains.
we contacted the team to halt any additional losses and initiate efforts to recover suspected stolen funds#CyversAlert pic.twitter.com/lug03WzNh9
— Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) September 14, 2023
To prevent the attacker from cashing out USDT, Tether has subsequently frozen the address, effectively halting the movement of $1.4 million worth of drained crypto. Remitano has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident.
Remitano is a peer-to-peer crypto exchange and payment processor that primarily serves emerging markets. Its user base includes individuals from Pakistan, Ghana, Venezuela, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, India, South Africa, Vietnam, and Nigeria.
In 2023, there has been a surge in crypto exchange hacks resulting in the theft of private keys and funds. US authorities have attributed these attacks to the Lazarus Group, a cybercrime organization believed to have connections to the North Korean government. The group is alleged to have stolen $41 million from gambling site Stake on Sept. 4 and drained $27 million from Coinex on Sept. 12.
Please note that this is an ongoing story, and further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
