Poloniex hack
About $120M+ was drained from hot wallets of the Justin Sun-owned exchange Poloniex on November 10, 2023, across Ethereum, Tron, and Bitcoin. Security firms attributed it to a private-key compromise, with the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group widely suspected.
Also known as: Poloniex, Poloniex hack
Summary
On November 10, 2023, hot wallets belonging to Poloniex — a long-running exchange owned by Tron founder Justin Sun — were drained across the Ethereum, Tron, and Bitcoin networks. Estimates ranged from about $114 million to $132 million. [1][2]
Cause and attribution
Security firm CertiK assessed the incident as a private-key compromise, one of the largest of 2023. Several analysts (e.g., X-explore) said the laundering patterns resembled those of the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group, though attribution was not officially confirmed. Sun said affected funds would be fully reimbursed and offered a 5% white-hat bounty; the attacker even mistakenly sent some stolen tokens to a contract, permanently losing them. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
People & entities involved
Sources (2)
See also
- Loci (LOCIcoin)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO for 'LOCIcoin' tied to the InnVenn IP-search platform. The SEC charged Loci and CEO John Wise with fraud for raising $7.6M on false claims about revenue, headcount, and user base; Wise also misused investor funds. Settled with a $7.6M penalty and an officer/director bar.
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO (BCT tokens, ~$30M) for a 'Blockchain Terminal' — a Bloomberg-style crypto trading terminal. The SEC and DOJ said convicted ex-hedge-funder Boaz Manor secretly ran it under a fake identity ('Shaun MacDonald'), using associate Edith Pardo as a front, and lied about the product's adoption.
- Crowd Machine (CMCT)Tokens
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