Digital asset platform HTX has reportedly seen a $258 million net outflow after being hacked.
The money left the cryptocurrency exchange between the time it reopened on Nov. 25 and Dec. 10, Bloomberg News reported Monday (Dec. 11), citing data from DefiLlama.
The report argued this is an indication that customers may have been uneasy after the security incident, in which HTX lost $30 million in crypto tokens and suspended activity.
An HTX spokesperson told Bloomberg the outflow is “a small fraction of our total reserves, indicating a stable and robust platform” and added that the company is committed to offering a “secure and seamless” trading experience.
According to Bloomberg, HTX is linked to crypto mogul Justin Sun, who has ties to the Poloniex platform and the HECO Bridge, a network set up by HTX to allow for transfers between blockchains. Both Poloniex and HECO were hacked last month, Bloomberg said, with about $200 million in crypto being taken.
Following last month’s theft, Sun posted on X that the exchange would “fully compensate for HTX’s hot wallet losses.” Bloomberg’s report noted that hackers had stolen $8 million from the platform during another incident in September.
The news follows a number of recent crypto sector hacks. Last month, a hacker stole $27 million in crypto from a Binance-connected wallet, converting them to ether and then transferring them to other exchanges and bridges.
And in September, digital asset transaction network Mixin halted withdrawals and deposits after a $200 million hack.
Against this backdrop — and recent cases of criminal activity by crypto exchanges themselves — Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, last week restated his strong opposition to the crypto sector.
“If I was the government, I’d close it down,” Dimon told the Senate Banking Committee.
Dimon has in the past referred to digital currencies as “Ponzi schemes” and a “fraud.”
The crypto sector’s troubles have also led to what could wind up being a record amount of lobbying by the industry this year, as noted here recently.
Digital asset companies spent $18.9 million on lobbying during the first three quarters of this year. That figure was up from $16.1 million in 2022, and in spite of the collapse of FTX, which had been one of the bigger spenders when it came to lobbying. Last year, FTX and other firms devoted almost $22 million to lobbying.
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