By Richard Hines
Just when we thought the hacktober and hack series were over, another one was recorded. The Deribit exchange was robbed of $28 million on the evening of November 1st. This exploit led to the immediate halting of withdrawals on the platform
The Deribit Million Dollar Exploit
Deribit, the largest Bitcoin Option exchange by market cap, lost $28 million in a hack attack on November 1st, 2022. An investigation into the attack revealed that this resulted from an infiltration into the exchange’s hot wallet. To keep the situation under control, the exchange suspended all trading activities.
Deribit addressed the hack problem in a tweet, indicating that $28 million in Bitcoin, USDC, and Ether were stolen from the exchange, but that users’ assets were safe and the company’s reserve would be used to compensate for this loss. He also briefed the public about how the hackers gained access to the system via a hot wallet attack.
The corporation has assured the public that security checks and protocols are currently in place, and that all withdrawals have been blocked. For the time being, third-party withdrawals will be halted until the firm is confident that it can resume normal operations without interruption or hacking.
Current State Of Things At Deribit
This was the first hack recorded in November, and it dealt a significant damage to the firm, which had recently emerged from a liquidation case. Three Arrows Capital (3AC) recently liquidated its position after the now-bankrupt crypto business failed to make its margin calls; this came shortly after Deribit received $40 million from investors against a $400 million price value in September.
Deribit maintains its position, assuring the public that business is unaffected by the attack and is financially sound enough to resume operations. The firm’s insurance funds will not be touched because the loss caused by the hack will be paid entirely by the company reserve.
Deribit has catered to institutional investors since its inception in 2016. It also has a big number of shares in open interest in Bitcoin option trading, over 85%.