Cybercriminals have a strong interest in the crypto industry; Because in case of successful penetration into the systems, they can pocket a lot of money in a short time and their identity remains anonymous. Almost every day new cyber attacks happen in the world of cryptocurrencies; For example, in 2022 alone, three billion dollars of cryptocurrency were stolen following 125 cyber attacks.
The crypto industry is relatively young and security protocols are not yet fully implemented in DeFi systems, and sophisticated hackers can exploit current vulnerabilities. In many of these attacks, exchanges have avoided the burden of returning users’ assets by abusing the situation; For example, following the hacking of the Ranin network, the users’ property was not returned until the hackers had returned some of the stolen assets.
Last year, by disclosing some information, US government officials learned that Sam Benkmanfried, the founder and former CEO of the FTX exchange, nicknamed the Sultan of Cryptocurrencies, had used the assets of his exchange users for personal investment; Following these events, the FTX exchange crashed, and the value of its token plummeted.
It is not without reason that in such a risky and anxious atmosphere, the news of the CoinEx exchange security incident caused a lot of noise; Especially when it was announced that the value of the stolen assets is 70 million dollars.
The Coinx crisis, which happened on September 12, 2023, was particularly significant because a large number of users had chosen the exchange for their cryptocurrency transactions and feared that all their assets were gone.
But Quinx’s message following this incident was clear and reassuring: this $70 million theft has drained only a small portion of the exchange’s assets, and users will receive full compensation for any losses caused by this security breach.
Quinx needed 9 days to complete the investigation of this security incident and transfer its assets to secure wallets. This exchange has resumed its activities and by building a new architecture for wallets, it has made it possible to withdraw cryptocurrency in much safer conditions.
After resuming the activities of Quinx, Hypo Yang, CEO of the exchange in a tweet He wrote to CoinEx users:
Coinx also assumed the losses of users who deposited their assets to old addresses without knowing about the hack. According to Quinx, currently no user has suffered any loss from this attack and the advanced security measures it recently implemented in its infrastructure will bring the highest level of protection to Armaghan users.
Describing these security measures, Quinx mentioned mechanisms for warm wallets, including multi-signature protocols, independent infrastructure, storing critical backup information in several different locations, and an automatic alert system. According to Quinx, the architecture of the main cold wallet of this exchange has been upgraded with multi-dimensional mechanisms, including a dedicated cold storage system, offline private keys, and hardware authentication to protect users’ assets as much as possible.
In addition, Quinx unveiled a protection fund to protect users’ assets against unforeseen risks. According to this exchange, the Quinx protection fund allocates 10% of transaction fees to insurance against possible incidents so that users can trade with the peace of mind that their assets are insured.
According to CointelegraphQuinx recently announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with one of the leading blockchain security companies, SlowMist, to enhance its platform’s security protocols and enable seamless trading for users around the world.
Based on this partnership, SlowMist will provide anti-money laundering software, analysis and evaluation of security mechanisms, real-time transaction monitoring and incident response protocols to protect more than five million Coinx users worldwide.
According to analysts, Quinx’s cooperation with SlowMist will pave the way for the creation of strong and innovative security protocols, especially in relation to the development of anti-money laundering software for this exchange. Advanced tools such as cold storage integration and address validation along with improved threat awareness and faster response time will reduce the risk of asset theft and give users peace of mind when trading crypto.
Unfortunately, cyber attacks on exchanges are more common than you think, and in many of these attacks, lost funds are not returned to users. For this reason, it is extremely important to choose a reliable exchange that, in addition to having a license and a good background, benefits from a high volume of transactions, responsibility and commitment to users, guaranteeing the security of their assets even in critical situations, and ease of use.
The Coinx crisis could have had dire consequences for users, but fortunately, this exchange has compensated all users’ losses in 100% and by improving security mechanisms and cooperating with SlowMist, the withdrawal service has resumed safer than ever.