Breaking: Bithumb loses XRP worth around $5 million; claims it was an accident involving insiders

Earlier today, Bithumb, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, garnered the cryptospace’s attention after speculations of a hack. It was reported that the exchange lost over 3 million in EOS, the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, approximately worth $13 million.

Soon after the news broke out, community members pointed that the exchange also lost a significant amount in XRP. XRP Scan, the XRP Ledger Explorer on Twitter, stated that “there are pages and pages of 90,000 XRP going out of this exchange wallet: rLaHMvsPnPbiNQSjAgY8Tf8953jxQo4vnu.”

Notably, there were over 200 XRP transactions made, with each transaction consisting of 90,000 coins. Additionally, there were transactions made out of the wallet to another Bithumb account, suggesting that the exchange could have recovered part of the funds.

Nevertheless, the exchange also broke its silence on the speculated hack. On Twitter, the exchange stated,

“[Notice] We deeply apologize to our members for delaying the cryptocurrency deposit and withdrawal service, we would like to inform you of the circumstances of the grounds and confirm that your assets are safe.”

The exchange explained the entire scenario surrounding the “accident involving insiders.” Interestingly, the exchange suspected this to be an insider job as the “external intrusion path had not been revealed until now.” The exchange also stated that they were conducting “intensive investigations,” along with KISA, Cyber Police Agency and security companies.

Further, the exchange added that it was working with other cryptocurrency exchanges and foundations to recover the lost funds. The exchange said,

“Our members’ KRW deposit / withdrawal service is normally available, and we will do our best to secure the stability of the service and to resume as soon as possible. Specific resumption schedule will be announced through separate announcement.”