Following its $100M hack, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has added Poloniex to its list of unauthorized companies, warning users to operate cautiously while dealing with the crypto exchange.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom has included the cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex on its list of unauthorized companies that require caution.
Four hackers have compromised the Seychelles-based exchange, one of three businesses owned or affiliated with entrepreneur Justin Sun, over the past two months.
On December 6, the FCA’s website issued a warning regarding Poloniex. It states that “firms and individuals cannot promote financial services in the United Kingdom without the appropriate authorization or approval” without explaining.
Additionally, the FCA advises the public not to rely on financial law protection when conducting business with unauthorized entities.
The FCA disclosed in August that it has only approved 38 of 291 applications from cryptocurrency companies seeking registration since 2020, or approximately 13%.
Two months ago, it declared the inclusion of 140 cryptocurrency companies, including HTX and KuCoin, on its warning list. Since then, PayPal UK has been the only entity that the regulator has authorized.
On November 10, Poloniex was the target of a $100 million cyberattack. According to the company, the platform “mostly completed” its restoration efforts by the end of November and was preparing to resume withdrawals and deposits.
The organization reinstated deposit and withdrawal capabilities on December 5 for the following cryptocurrencies via the Tron network: USDT, USDD, BTT, WIN, NFT, SUN, JST, USDJ, and USDC. Gradually, the platform will resume accepting deposits and withdrawals of additional cryptocurrencies, as stated in its official statement.
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, owns Poloniex and HTX, an erstwhile Huobi-affiliated cryptocurrency exchange. Four breaches have occurred on Sun-linked platforms over the past two months. In September, an attack cost HTX $8 million; in late November, a hot wallet compromise cost the company $30 million.
Simultaneously, hackers compromised HTX’s HECO Chain bridge, a utility for transferring digital assets between HTX and other networks such as Ethereum, and transferred at least $86.6 million to suspicious addresses.
