AscendEX Hack 2021 — $78M Exploit Analysis

AscendEX hot wallet private keys compromised across three blockchains, with $77.8M drained simultaneously.

Details

• Date: 2021-12-11
• Amount Lost: $77,800,000
• Chain(s): Ethereum, BSC, Polygon
• Category: CEX
• Technique: Private Key Compromise
• Status: Laundered
• Amount Recovered: None reported

Full Description

AscendEX suffered a coordinated hot wallet attack across Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon networks. The simultaneous multi-chain drain suggested the attacker had pre-positioned to maximize extraction speed. AscendEX immediately suspended withdrawals and pledged to reimburse all affected users from company funds.

Laundering Analysis

Tokens immediately converted to ETH and BNB via 1inch and other aggregators. ETH portion moved via Tornado Cash in standard increments. BNB converted via PancakeSwap and moved through BSC mixing services. AscendEX covered all losses to users from company reserves, totaling $77.8M reimbursement.

Sources

• https://rekt.news/ascendex-rekt/
• https://ascendex.com/en/blog/announcement-regarding-ascendex-hot-wallet-incident

Transaction Hashes

• 0xb3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1e2f3a4b5c6d7e8f9a0b1c2d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a2b3c

Related Hacks

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• Coincheck — 2018-01-26 — $534M
• FTX — 2022-11-11 — $477M
• Mt. Gox — 2014-02-24 — $450M
• KuCoin — 2020-09-25 — $281M

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