Remitano exchange allegedly hacked for $2.7M; $1.4M frozen by Tether

Crypto exchange Remitano experienced large withdrawals under suspicious circumstances on Sept. 14, with some blockchain analysts concluding that it may have been hacked. A total of $2.7 million worth of crypto has been withdrawn through the suspicious transactions. Tether has frozen one address the attacker allegedly used, potentially saving $1.4 million worth of customers’ crypto.

At approximately 12:45 pm, a known Remitano hot wallet began sending funds to an address with no prior history. Approximately $1.4 million worth of Tether (USDT), $208,000 worth of USD Coin (USDC) and 104,000 Ankr tokens (worth $2,000 at the time) were moved to the new address.

Blockchain analytics platform Cyvers has alerted the crypto community about the alleged suspicious transactions.

ALERTOur ML-driven system has detected multiple anomalous transactions with @remitano exchange, resulting in a total loss of $2.7M across 3 chains.

we contacted the team to halt any additional losses and initiate efforts to recover suspected stolen funds#CyversAlert pic.twitter.com/lug03WzNh9

— Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) September 14, 2023

Tether subsequently froze the address to prevent the attacker from cashing out USDT, which prevented $1.4 million of the drained crypto from being moved any further. Remitano has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident. 

Remitano is a peer-to-peer crypto exchange and payment processor that focuses on emerging markets. It serves users in Pakistan, Ghana, Venezuela, Cambodia, Kenya, Malaysia, India, South Africa, Vietnam and Nigeria.

There has been a rash of crypto exchange hacks in 2023 that resulted in leaked private keys and stolen funds. United States authorities claim that these attacks were caused by the Lazarus Group, a cybercrime organization believed to have ties to the North Korean government. The group allegedly stole $41 million from gambling site Stake on Sept. 4 and drained $27 million from Coinex on Sept. 12.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.