It’s been a rough week for Australian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSpot after falling victim to one of the largest hot wallet hacks in the country’s history. In a story that has unfolded across the blockchain like a digital crime thriller, over $2 million worth of crypto was drained from CoinSpot’s wallets in a sophisticated attack.
The Discovery
The heist was first discovered by renowned blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, who noticed suspicious activity coming from some of CoinSpot’s Ethereum addresses. In a matter of minutes on November 8th, over 1,262 ETH vanished from a CoinSpot wallet in two separate transactions. ZachXBT alerted the crypto community through his Telegram channel, sparking a forensic scramble to unravel what happened.
Going Global
Word of the suspected CoinSpot hack soon went global, with reports popping up across major crypto news outlets. It became clear the attacker had quickly bridged the stolen ETH onto different chains, exchanging it for bitcoins and stablecoins in an effort to obscure the trail.
Spreading Out Down Under
As the investigation continued, more details emerged about the cunning tactics used by this crypto crook “down under.” After stealing over a million dollars worth of ETH, they had swiftly converted it and spread the loot across multiple blockchains and wallet addresses. Like a master thief dividing up the take before the cops arrive, this ensured the decentralized dollars would be very difficult for analysts to recover in full.
Lessons From a Hot Mess
For CoinSpot, this $2.4 million loss from their hot wallet was a bitter pill. As Australia’s largest crypto exchange, with millions of users, they certainly know the importance of security best practices. Alas, even the most established companies can fall victim to hacks.