Eterbase Wants to Stop Hacked Bitcoin From Getting Away

Eterbase, a European digital asset exchange, has called on other exchanges to block stolen crypto following a hack that saw close to $5.4 million worth of crypto moved to other exchanges earlier this week. 

The hack took place on September 8, 2020, and targeted the exchange’s hot wallets, which are connected to the internet. Eterbase has since cooperated with the authorities to try and identify the hackers. The stolen funds were in Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Texos, Algorand and TRON. And now the exchange wants help stopping the stolen money from getting away.

“Eterbase will continue with operations! Our investigation shows a big part of stolen funds ended up on @binance, @HuobiGlobal, and @hitbtc,” the Eterbase team said in a recent tweet. 

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Other exchanges have reacted to the news by offering their assistance. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao responded to Eterbase’s tweet offering his exchange’s help. 

Hacking of crypto exchanges is becoming an increasingly profitable business. Previous hacks, including the $450 million hack from MT Gox in 2014, and the 2016 Bitfinex hack that saw $1 billion stolen, show how tempting a target these exchanges can be. 

However, making use of stolen crypto remains a challenge for hackers. “Those tokens are forever flagged on the blockchain and no one in the industry will ever accept them—making it very hard for the criminals to enjoy their success,” Ingo Fiedler, co-founder of the Blockchain Research Lab, told Decrypt. 

This is why Eterbase is reaching out to other exchanges as they chase the stolen crypto. Ideally, with the frozen funds flagged across multiple exchanges, damage caused by the hack can be undone. If the funds are identified, they “usually get returned to the legitimate owner, so not all hope is lost in this case,” Fiedler added.  

Going forward, Eterbase has reassured its users that the exchange has enough capital to meet their obligations. The exchange intends to announce a date for reopening as soon as possible.