Lykke cryptocurrency exchange has put a stop to withdrawals following a security breach on June 4, as per a social media announcement on June 10. The exchange assured users that their funds are secure and will be recovered.
The attack affected both Lykke UK and Lykke Corp AG, according to the announcement. Withdrawals have been suspended as a precautionary measure, as stated in a subsequent post on the same thread.
Established in 2015 and headquartered in Switzerland, Lykke is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange that prides itself on being a “no fee crypto exchange.” It originated from a well-known forex broker.
On June 9, blockchain security researcher SomaXBT revealed the breach and accused the team of trying to conceal it. They claimed that $19.5 million worth of crypto assets were lost due to the exploit, despite the team’s efforts to hide the fact. A screenshot of a Discord message purportedly from the team indicated that the exchange was undergoing unscheduled maintenance.
A user on X complained on June 8 about Lykke not functioning and rumors circulating about a hack.
In response to the attack, the team at Lykke issued an apology to affected users on June 10. They expressed regret for any inconvenience caused and reassured clients that their funds are secure due to the exchange’s strong capital reserves and diverse portfolio. The team also mentioned that they have identified the attacker’s IP addresses for a criminal investigation and have hired a cybersecurity team to recover the stolen assets. They estimated that over $22 million was lost in the attack.
Centralized exchanges are increasingly becoming targets for exploits. Just recently, Rain exchange was hacked for $14.1 million, with no customer funds lost due to immediate action taken by the exchange.
In a separate incident, Japanese exchange DMM suffered a $305 million loss in Bitcoin through a private key hack.