HTX Recovers $8M in Stolen Funds, Offers 250 ETH Bounty

• Huobi Global’s crypto exchange HTX has recovered the $8 million worth of ETH it lost in an exploit.
• On September 25, the exchange was hacked, and over 5,000 ETH were drained from the platform.
• The hacker has returned 95% of the funds, while the other 5% was offered to them as a white-hat hacker bounty.
• CertiK confirmed that as of August 2023, the crypto exchange has lost $1 billion to exploits, scams, etc.

Huobi Globa’s crypto exchange, HTX, has confirmed that it has recovered close to $8 million from hackers that attacked the platform in late September. The exchange’s team moved swiftly to take control and recover the funds from the exploiters and was successful in partially recovering the funds

According to the official announcement by HTX via its account on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the exchange has also issued a bounty of 250 Ether (ETH) for the hackers, provided they return the funds that they stole. The firm has patched the issue that led to the exploit as well

It is crucial to note that on September 25, around 5,000 ETH were stolen from HTX, which amounted to $8 million at that time. However, after pulling off the heist, the hackers were contacted by the exchange, which stated that the developers had knowledge of the person behind the exploit

After a turn of events, HTX said that it would offer the hacker around $250 ETH or $400,000 as a bounty, which represents 5% of the total amount. Interestingly, the exchange warned the hackers that it would not reveal their identity to the authorities if they returned 95% of the funds prior to the deadline of October 2.

Prominent blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed that the exchange did receive the funds from the hackers

It looks like the HTX/Huobi hacker has returned the funds (4997 ETH)

0x48bd1179529343c7a970045290fd2b0b1d946f64e17c443a528e24bf7cdbb817 pic.twitter.com/MknehuhM6x

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 7, 2023

Huobi Global investor and HTX adviser Justin Sun commented on the victorious recovery, stating that “the hacker made the right choice. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone in the industry for their help!”

“Strengthening blockchain security and protecting user assets is never an easy task, and we have been working tirelessly! Providing full security for user assets is always our goal to strive for! We are thankful for the continued support of our users and community!” he added.

As reported earlier by Bitnation, blockchain security firm CertiK released a report confirming that the blockchain sector lost $1 billion as a result of exploits, exit scams, and flash loan attacks as of August 2023.