- The exchange has announced it’s back online following a hack
- Early detection prevented further damage
- Bitrue says they have improved their systems, and have recovered some of the stolen funds
The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange that suffered a serious hack last month losing $4.5 million worth of digital assets is back online. The exchange had shut down following the incident but promised to get back quickly.
Bitrue the latest in a long line of hacked exchanges
The announcement by Bitrue cryptocurrency exchange was made via a medium blog post on July 4, assuring users that the situation was now fully under control. The firm said it was reviewing its security measures and policies in order to prevent a repeat of a similar incident. As per the press release, users who lost their funds will receive a 100 percent refund. The exchange stated:
“After working around the clock we are pleased to say that deposits and withdrawals are online in Bitrue in time for BTR trading to go live!”
Yesterday (July 4th) the exchange told its users that there is no longer anything to worry about as the teams have been working tirelessly to get deposits and withdrawals online and just in time for BTR trading to launch.
Exchange hacks worryingly common
Bitrue Exchange suffered a security breach at 1 a.m. GMT+8 on June 27 2018 where customer funds were stolen. The firm reported it had lost XRP and ADA tokens valued at $4.5 million. According to the exchange, the hacker exploited a vulnerability in the firm’s Risk Control team’s second review process and stole funds belonging to 90 Bitrue users. The hacker thereafter used the same experience to infiltrate the exchange’s hot wallet and stole cryptocurrency.
According to the exchange, the security breach was detected early and the company’s security experts quickly suspended the hackers’ activity thereby reducing the amount of damage that could have occurred. Bitrue went on to notify the receiving exchanges, specifically Huobi, Bittrex and ChangeNOW about the incoming stolen funds and their swift cooperation enabled the freezing of the related accounts and transactions.
Bitrue investing in security
Those exchanges managed to freeze funds on their exchanges totaling up to $1.35 million. This frozen amount should be recoverable by Bitrue in the future after they work through things with authorities and exchanges. As for future plans, Bitrue exchange says it’s ready to launch the trading of their platform token, Bitrue Token (BTR). The blog post further reads:
“We’re now gearing up to launch the trading of our platform token, Bitrue Token (BTR), on Thursday 4 July 2019 23:59 (GMT+8). We have analyzed our security systems and risk control processes and have made several improvements. We also now offer an increase to the interest rate of users who both hold funds in their Power Piggy program and hold BTR in their accounts.”