Following a hack on June 4, the Lykke cryptocurrency exchange has suspended withdrawals, according to a social media announcement on June 10.
The assault impacted Lykke UK and Lykke Corp AG, as indicated in the post.
The exchange stated in a separate post in the same thread that withdrawals have been suspended “as a precautionary measure.”
Launched in 2015, Lykke is a Swiss-based centralized cryptocurrency exchange. It claims to have evolved from a “prominent forex broker” and advertises itself as a “no fee crypto exchange” on its website.
SomaXBT, a blockchain security researcher, asserted that the attack was discovered on June 9. The team was accused of attempting to conceal the security compromise, as they stated, “@lykke CTX was exploited and lost $19.5 million in crypto assets, but the team is still attempting to conceal this fact…”
SomaXBT supplied a screenshot of a Discord message purportedly from the team in response to their post. The exchange was “performing an unscheduled full system maintenance!” according to the message.
On June 8, a Lykke user reported on X that the exchange was not functioning and that there were allegations that it had been hacked.
The team extended their condolences to the affected users in the post on June 10, which acknowledged the attack. “We extend our sincerest apologies to all affected clients and partners for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack.”
According to the team, the exchange’s “solid capital reserves and a diverse portfolio” will enable it to withstand any potential losses from the attack, ensuring the safety of client funds.
The exchange also asserted that it has identified the IP addresses of the perpetrator, which it intends to utilize in a criminal investigation. Additionally, it stated that a cybersecurity team has been engaged to assist in the “blocking and recovery of the stolen assets.” The team’s estimates indicate that the assault resulted in a loss of over $22 million.
The discovery of unacknowledged exploits against centralized exchanges by blockchain researchers persists. ZachXBT, an on-chain sleuth, disclosed on April 19 that the Rain exchange had been compromised for $14.1 million two weeks prior.
Rain subsequently acknowledged the assault, claiming that no customer funds had been lost and that it had “immediately plugged the hole” using its reserves.
