Coinsbuy Suffers $8 Million Loss Due to Coordinated Blockchain Attack

Coinsbuy suffers significant theft linked to TRON and Ethereum networks

Coinsbuy, a cryptocurrency exchange, reported a loss exceeding $8 million due to a coordinated cyber attack on August 9. The incident involved the theft of assets from both TRON and Ethereum blockchains, as uncovered by security experts analyzing blockchain data.

The attack began with a minimal transaction of 5 USDT, which led to the swift depletion of eight TRON wallets, resulting in a loss of 6.04 million USDT in under an hour. Simultaneously, three Ethereum wallets were compromised, losing 1.89 million USDT and 77 ETH, which were converted via a newly created wallet using the 1inch exchange.

Investigation revealed that the two blockchains were linked through a tool known as Bridgers, which facilitated the transfer of funds into an Ethereum wallet, effectively merging what seemed like separate operations into a coordinated effort. Approximately 79% of the stolen assets were funneled through FixedFloat, utilizing around 50 unique addresses. ChangeNOW has frozen part of the stolen funds following a report from Specter Investigations, while about 282 ETH, valued at approximately $542,000, remains unclaimed across five addresses.

Coinsbuy managed to restore nearly 99.95% of the affected wallets within a day, suggesting that the attackers likely did not gain access to the exchange's private keys. However, the exact method used in the withdrawals has yet to be clarified, and Coinsbuy has not issued any public statements regarding the breach.

This incident adds to a troubling trend in the cryptocurrency space, which has seen nearly $972 million in thefts reported by the end of July 2023. Coinsbuy has been contacted for further comments on the situation.