Cryptocurrency exchange Bancor suspended operations due to hacker attack

Decentralized cryptocurrency platform Bancor suspended operations on Monday, July 9, and is working to patch a vulnerability that allowed hackers to break into one of the exchange's wallets and steal more than $12 million in tokens.

The exchange confirmed the attack and posted the following message on Twitter: "User funds were not stolen. We are currently conducting maintenance and will provide more detailed information later. We are doing our best to get back up and running as soon as possible."

User funds are safe because the Bangor decentralized exchange does not store them in their wallets.

After the theft, the attackers tried to exchange some of the stolen tokens through the platform Changelly, which provides instant cryptocurrency exchange services, platform CEO Konstantin Gladysh told Cointelegraph.

About 25,000 Ethereum (ETH) worth $12.5 million, 300,000 Pundi X (NPXS) worth more than a thousand dollars, as well as BTN, the exchange’s own tokens, were stolen from the Bancor exchange. The exchange froze its own tokens and is trying, together with other exchanges, to track the further movement of the remaining stolen tokens.

The Bancor exchange became famous after it managed to earn $153 million in ETH in three hours during the initial coin offering in 2017. The decentralized structure of the exchange provides a greater degree of security for clients than exchanges with a centralized structure, which are constantly subject to attacks. For example, Coincheck throughout this year.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, last week criticized all centralized exchanges and wished them to “burn in hell.”

According to cointelegraph.com