FTX says ‘unauthorized transactions’ drained millions from the exchange
FTX moved users’ funds to offline wallets early Saturday morning after a wave of “unauthorized transactions” drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange. Ryne Miller, the general counsel at FTX US, didn’t confirm a hack, but said on Twitter that the company made the move to “mitigate damage” caused by the potential theft, as transferring funds offline, or to “cold storage,” helps prevent outsiders from gaining access to them.
FTX’s new CEO John Ray, who took the place of company founder Sam Bankman-Fried following his resignation on Friday, issued a statement through Miller’s Twitter account on Saturday afternoon. “We are in the process of removing trading and withdrawal functionality and moving as many digital assets as can be identified to a new cold wallet custodian,” Ray says. “As widely reported, unauthorized access to certain assets has occurred.” He adds that FTX is in contact with law enforcement and “relevant regulators” to address the situation.
“FTX has been hacked. All funds seem to be gone,” an admin on FTX’s official Telegram channel writes, while also instructing users to delete FTX’s apps and warning against going on the platform’s websites due to the presence of malware. FTX.com and FTX.us are currently down at this time of writing.
Some users on Twitter speculate whether a member of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle drained the exchange’s funds, with crypto sleuth ZachXBT stating “multiple former FTX employees confirmed to me they do not recognize these transfers.” Nick Percoco, the CEO of the