Huobi’s Hot Wallet Reportedly Drained of $7.9 Million – What Happened?
On July 1st, 2019, digital asset exchange Huobi announced that approximately 4,000 Ether (ETH) valued at roughly $7.9 million was drained from its hot wallet. Hot wallets refer to wallets that are connected to the internet and are often used by exchanges to store cryptocurrency that is frequently transferred.
The funds were reportedly moved out of Huobi’s hot wallet to an anonymous wallet address on a separate Ethereum blockchain. Huobi has stated that the incident was the result of a security breach, and that the stolen funds represent a tiny fraction of its total assets. It also said that it is taking steps to minimize the impact of the incident on users, including reimbursing losses to customers who were affected.
Huobi has also said that it is working with outside security experts to investigate the incident, and that any assets recovered will be returned to customers. For now, the exchange has temporarily suspended withdrawals from its hot wallet as it works to identify the source of the security breach.