HTX Global hacked for $8 million, Justin Sun communicates calm and offers employment for hacker
- HTX Global was hacked for 5,000 ETH on September 24, worth approximately $8 million.
- The exchange has successfully covered the losses incurred, with customers’ accounts made whole.
- The exploiter has been identified and offered a 5% white hat bonus, valid for 7 days before law enforcement involvement.
- Meanwhile, platform advisor Justin Sun says $8 million is nothing compared to the $8 billion in customer assets on the platform.
HTX Global, formerly Huobi Global, is the latest hacking victim after an exploit on Sunday, September 24. The attack saw the platform lose up to 5,000 ETH, worth approximately $8 million at prevailing rates. Recent revelations by the exchange’s advisor and Tron founder Justin Sun indicate that the losses have been covered, with all issues resolved and assured of customer funds’ safety.
HTX @HTX_Global has suffered a loss of 5,000 #Eth ($8 million USD) due to a hacker attack. HTX has fully covered the losses incurred from the attack and has successfully resolved all related issues. All user assets are #SAFU and the platform is operating completely normally.
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) September 25, 2023
Also Read: Justin Sun of Tron contemplates an offer for FTX's holding tokens as crypto markets bend to FUD
HTX Global hacked but Justin Sun maintains composure
HTX Global lost approximately 5,000 ETH in a Sunday attack, with revelations by Justin Sun that the loss has been covered. The bad actor’s wallet address has been discovered (here), with a 5% ($400,000) white hat bonus on the table valid for seven days. More interestingly, Sun says that if the exploiter returns the funds, they will get a job on the platform as a “security white hat advisor for HTX.”
We are willing to offer 5% of the stolen amount (400,000 USD) as a white hat reward to encourage the hacker to return the stolen funds. If the hacker returns the funds, we will also hire them as a security white hat advisor for HTX.
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) September 25, 2023
Nevertheless, failure to return the funds within the provided period will warrant the involvement of law enforcement.
The attack was detected at approximately 6PM SGT (10 AM GMT), with the exchange responding almost immediately to manage the situation. Accordingly, all funds were made secure, and trading operations have continued as usual. Sun indicates that they addressed and resolved all issues promptly, restoring the platform to its normal state immediately.
HTX Global makes $8 million in weekly revenue
Further, Justin Sun indicated that $8 million was nothing compared to what the exchange holds in customer assets, adding that the loss accounted for a mere two weeks of revenue for HTX Global.
$8 million represents a relatively small sum in comparison to the $3 billion worth of assets held by our users. It also amounts to just two weeks' revenue for the HTX platform.
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) September 25, 2023
With Sun brushing off the exploit with an employment invitation, onlookers show interest in seeing how or whether the platform will be able to sustain normal operations following the attack.
will be interesting to see, for how long will it operate normally
— Axel Bitblaze (@Axel_bitblaze69) September 25, 2023
Meanwhile, blockchain security firm PeckShield has corroborated the announcement, indicating a list of top 10 hacks in the first nine months of 2025. At the helm is Mixin Network, which lost up to $200 million in an exploit on its cloud service.
#PeckShieldAlert As of Sept. 25, 2023, here are the Top 10 Hacks in 2023. @MixinKernel has confirmed that they were hacked for ~$200M on Sept. 23, 2023, making it the largest crypto hack this year. pic.twitter.com/tMF2R9vSIF
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 25, 2023
Mixin Network, a decentralized crypto network based in Hong Kong, halted operations (deposit and withdrawals) after the attack. Notably, part of the network’s capital came from renowned Chinese Key Opinion leader Li Xiaolai, who has endorsed and invested in the platform several times before. The attack has raised concerns over the reliance of the network on a centralized database.
[Announcement] In the early morning of September 23, 2023 Hong Kong time, the database of Mixin Network's cloud service provider was attacked by hackers, resulting in the loss of some assets on the mainnet. We have contacted Google and blockchain security company @SlowMist_Team…
— Mixin Kernel (@MixinKernel) September 25, 2023
Binance CEO has raised concerns over the incident, saying, "a decentralized peer-to-peer network had a database, which when hacked, can lose half of the users' assets...”
Another hack happened yesterday with Mixin. I am not familiar with it. It was hard to understand.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) September 25, 2023
A "decentralized peer-to-peer network" had a "database", which when hacked, can lose half of the users' assets...
Not everything that claims to be decentralized is.
Stay #SAFU pic.twitter.com/d2KS5ug2gi
The attack comes as Hong Kong positions itself as a hub for crypto in Asia, and could pose as a dent for this vision. Head of blockchain and cryptocurrency research at Daiwa Capital Markets, bears the same thought, saying, “I think this scandal will have a pretty sizeable negative impact on retail sentiment.” His statement comes as the incident bears a significant local presence with key personalities involved, including Xiaolai.
Cryptocurrency metrics FAQs
What is circulating supply?
The developer or creator of each cryptocurrency decides on the total number of tokens that can be minted or issued. Only a certain number of these assets can be minted by mining, staking or other mechanisms. This is defined by the algorithm of the underlying blockchain technology. Since its inception, a total of 19,445,656 BTCs have been mined, which is the circulating supply of Bitcoin. On the other hand, circulating supply can also be decreased via actions such as burning tokens, or mistakenly sending assets to addresses of other incompatible blockchains.
What is market capitalization?
Market capitalization is the result of multiplying the circulating supply of a certain asset by the asset’s current market value. For Bitcoin, the market capitalization at the beginning of August 2023 is above $570 billion, which is the result of the more than 19 million BTC in circulation multiplied by the Bitcoin price around $29,600.
What is trading volume?
Trading volume refers to the total number of tokens for a specific asset that has been transacted or exchanged between buyers and sellers within set trading hours, for example, 24 hours. It is used to gauge market sentiment, this metric combines all volumes on centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges. Increasing trading volume often denotes the demand for a certain asset as more people are buying and selling the cryptocurrency.
What is funding rate?
Funding rates are a concept designed to encourage traders to take positions and ensure perpetual contract prices match spot markets. It defines a mechanism by exchanges to ensure that future prices and index prices periodic payments regularly converge. When the funding rate is positive, the price of the perpetual contract is higher than the mark price. This means traders who are bullish and have opened long positions pay traders who are in short positions. On the other hand, a negative funding rate means perpetual prices are below the mark price, and hence traders with short positions pay traders who have opened long positions.
Author
Lockridge Okoth
FXStreet
Lockridge is a believer in the transformative power of crypto and the blockchain industry.
