- Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin announced that over $308 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from its primary wallet in a major hack
- The hack appears to be one of the largest crypto exploits in years, second only to the 2018 Coincheck hack in Japan where $550 million was stolen
- DMM Bitcoin has suspended certain trading activities and withdrawals as it investigates the matter, but says it will guarantee all customer Bitcoin deposits
The Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin announced a major hack on Friday, with over $300 million worth of bitcoin stolen from the company’s primary wallet. This appears to be one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange hacks in recent years.
Details of the Hack
Around 1:30pm local time, DMM Bitcoin noticed that approximately 4,503 BTC – worth around $308 million at the time – had been illegally transferred out of the company’s wallet. DMM has not yet provided further details on how the hack was carried out, but said it is investigating the matter and has taken measures to prevent future attacks.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Decrypt. DMM says it will continue to guarantee all customer BTC deposits following the exploit. However, it has suspended buying orders for spot trading, opening leveraged positions, and screening new account openings.
DMM has also halted crypto withdrawal processing for now. Fiat currency withdrawals in Japanese yen are still allowed but may take longer than usual.
Impact and Context
This appears to be the second largest crypto hack ever in Japan. In 2018, hackers stole over $550 million worth of XEM from Japanese exchange Coincheck.
Globally, this DMM Bitcoin hack is among the largest exchange breaches in recent years. While 2022 saw several hacks in the billions of dollars, the crypto industry has not seen any exploits of this magnitude so far in 2023.
The last comparable incident was the $610 million hack of cross-chain DeFi platform Poly Network in August 2021. However, Poly Network was able to recover most of the stolen funds. It remains to be seen if DMM Bitcoin will be able to get its stolen bitcoin back.
This hack is a stark reminder of the risks still associated with centralized exchanges. As the crypto industry continues to grow, security practices must evolve to prevent large-scale exploits like this from happening again.
