Coinbene Hack Cover-Up
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From the breadcrumbs, this seems pretty simple. Coinbene had a “secure” hot wallet system, which got hacked, resulting in the loss of a ton of different ERC20 tokens. The company didn’t want to appear hackable and insecure and suffer the reputation damage, so rather than be transparent about the matter, decided to ask the various teams behind the ERC20 tokens to help quietly reverse the transactions. Some, including the MaxiMine project, indulged the request, while others such as Howdoo, refused. This can be prevented by regular audits to expose any reserve shortfalls, and hot wallet insurance to cover any token losses.
This exchange or platform is based in International, or the incident targeted people primarily in International.
About Coinbene
“On March 27, 2019, ZDnet reported on a widely rumored hack on Singapore-based exchange CoinBene. At the time of the alleged cyberattack, the exchange went into maintenance mode, which undoubtedly fueled speculation.” “On Monday (March 25, 2019), there were massive outgoing transactions from CoinBene’s hot wallet to an unknown wallet that did not exist prior to that Monday. These transactions reportedly involved every single ERC-20 token (totaling 109) held by the company.” “the fund transfers out of CoinBene’s hot wallet bore all the hallmarks of a hack.” “the [CoinBene] manager admitted to not knowing the source of the intrusion — while still telling the public that there was ongoing maintenance.” "MaxiMine sent CoinBene 1.9 billion MXM, despite its announcement saying the token distribution would be on a 1:1 basis. Thus, why did CoinBene receive an extra 700,000 MXM — which were worth about $77 million at the time — from MaxiMine?" When he asked how Coinbene could continue to allow trading for tokens they do not actually have on their exchange, Brierley was told, "You don't know how centralized exchanges work, David."
This exchange or platform is based in International, or the incident targeted people primarily in International.
The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.
Include:
- Known history of when and how the service was started.
- What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
- What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
- Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
- Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
- How were people recruited to participate?
- Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.
Don't Include:
- Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
- Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.
There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.
The Reality
This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:
- When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
- Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
- How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
- Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.
What Happened
The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| April 1st, 2019 12:01:19 AM | First Event | This is an expanded description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here. |
Total Amount Lost
The total amount lost is unknown.
How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?
Immediate Reactions
How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?
Ultimate Outcome
What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?
Total Amount Recovered
It is unknown how much was recovered.
What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?
Ongoing Developments
What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?
Prevention Policies
Coming soon.
References
Over $100 Million Missing: CoinBene Claims Maintenance, a Month of Questions Point Toward a Hack (Feb 14)
$356 million in cryptocurrency stolen in first three months of 2019 (Feb 14)
The Mystery of Coinbene's Missing Coins | CryptoGlobe (Feb 18)
Q1 2019 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report - CipherTrace (Feb 19)
Most Significant Hacks of 2019 — New Record of Twelve in One Year (Feb 22)
SlowMist Hacked - SlowMist Zone (Jun 25)
The 23 exchange hacks of 2019 (Aug 7)