Crypto trading platform BitMart said in a statement that it will use its own funds to refund the victims of a security breach, which included hackers stealing almost $200 million from BitMart users.
BitMart said in the statement that the hackers withdrew around $150 million in assets. However, blockchain and security analytics firm Peckshield estimates that BitMart’s losses are actually closer to $200 million.
“BitMart will use our own funding to cover the incident and compensate affected users,” BitMart said in the statement. “We are also talking to multiple project teams to confirm the most reasonable solutions such as token swaps. No user assets will be harmed.”
BitMart said in its Dec. 6 official statement that it had completed initial security checks and identified the stolen assets. The trading platform said the security breach was primarily caused by a stolen private key. This impacted two of BitMart’s hot wallets, but the other assets were “safe and unharmed.”
According to the company, the stolen Ethereum and Binance smart chain “hot wallets” made up only a “small percentage” of its assets.
BitMart Security Breach
BitMart first announced the attack on Dec. 4, when it observed a large-scale security breach.
Peckshield tweeted that BitMart lost approximately $100 million in a variety of cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum blockchain along with another $96 million from coins on the Binance smart chain. The hackers also stole a mix of over 20 tokens, including Binance Coin, Safemoon, and Shiba Inu, according to reports.
In addition, BitMart CEO Sheldon Xia shared more details on the breach, the compensation arrangement, and how the company plans to resume operation during an information session on Monday.
“We will strive to maintain transparency and your support to BitMart is highly appreciated,” BitMart said.
BitMart said that it expected trading to “gradually begin” once more on Dec. 7.