According to various users of the exchange on Twitter, Crypto.com halted their withdrawals after detecting some suspicious trading activity especially around the Ethereum network. Is it a possible hack that is being downplayed by the company?
According to crypto.com itself, all of the funds were safe and it was just as a precaution after the company detected some suspicious activity within the trading ecosystem. According to the company’s official Twitter account:
We have a small number of users reporting suspicious activity on their accounts.
We will be pausing withdrawals shortly, as our team is investigating. All funds are safe.
— Crypto.com (@cryptocom) January 17, 2022
While the exchange itself is trying to downplay the issue, those of us familiar with the crypto sector and have been working in it for the last few years know what this means. Crypto.com halted its withdrawals after possibly detecting suspicious activity of potential hackers within the system. Various other cryptocurrency exchange and wallet services have had similar episodes in which they underwent a cyber attack and lost some of their crypto funds. They also then proceeded to stop withdrawals to stop the flight of crypto from the affected platform.
The suspicious activity was first reported by Dogecoin founder Billy Markus who goes by the name of Shibetoshi Nakamoto. He tweeted:
Internal system transfers and funds are safe? Inside job gone awry like office space? Hackers taking funds from an exchange hot wallet? 🤷♂️
Never a dull day in the world of crypto.
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) January 17, 2022
Despite efforts from crypto journalists to comment further on the matter, Crypto.com has proceeded with silence on the matter. That is also damaging for the exchange’s rating as the whole promise of digital currencies is that you and only you are in charge of your currency and that is not the case here. If Crypto.com halted the transfers for a long time, it will only give rise to more rumours and result in a mass exodus of crypto from the company’s wallets, dealing a big blow to the exchange’s trading activity in the process.
So, whatever happened, Crypto.com needs to come out with the complete truth and take action accordingly on an immediate basis. The longer this saga protracts, the bigger their problems are going to get. It is also better for trackers to track the digital currency around and recover funds if necessary.
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