Over the past few weeks, there has been no shortage of cryptocurrency news surrounding one exchange in particular – HTX. Previously known as Huobi Global, HTX recently suffered not one but two significant hacks totalling over $100 million in losses.
However, in what could be seen as a sign of resilience in the face of adversity, HTX has now reinstated key services after working diligently to resolve the security issues. Let’s take a closer look at what transpired.
A Double Dose of Drama
On November 22nd, HTX announced that its hot wallets had been drained of around $30 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Just hours later, a similar $86 million exploit was reported on the associated HECO blockchain.
This double whammy of hacks, impacting the same ecosystem within a short window, raised serious concerns about security practices. As most seasoned crypto observers know, HTX has close ties to Tron founder Justin Sun.
In fact, Sun acted as an advisor during HTX’s rebrand from Huobi. So when the news broke, many speculated this was beginning to look like a pattern among Sun-affiliated projects. Only two weeks prior, the Poloniex exchange (also overseen by Sun) was struck by a catastrophic $100 million hack.
TWEET: https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1728748251791196345
Restoring Order from Chaos
Amid the fallout, Justin Sun vowed on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to make all users whole again. HTX likewise reassured the community that reserves could cover the losses. Still, deposit and withdrawal services were promptly suspended across the board for affected assets.
Behind the scenes, it appears HTX threw everything it had at investigating the breaches and bolstering protections. Less than a week after the dual hacks, the first signs of recovery emerged.
An official announcement on November 26th proudly declared the resumption of withdrawals for popular coins on the Ethereum network. In the following days, support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron and Tether was fully restored.
Justin Sun also teased that the “majority of work” towards restoring all services was complete, with a target of wrapping up fully by the end of the coming week. Even in the face of hardship, HTX had managed to safely restart the engine in record time – quite an impressive feat.
Lessons in Security
While the swift recovery no doubt inspired confidence, it does little to erase the memory of those multi-million dollar attacks. As the old saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
The string of security mishaps across Sun-affiliated businesses suggests there is still progress to be made on that front.
Hackers will always lurk in the shadows, but advanced safeguards and a culture of vigilance can help tilt the odds in favor of legitimate users and operators. Transparency around incident responses also builds trust over time.
Don’t forget – for the latest updates on HTX’s restoration efforts or any other top cryptocurrency news, be sure to check EXEcrypto.