Crypto.com restores deposits and withdrawals after 12-hour outage
Digital asset cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com has restored its deposit and withdrawal services after having been inaccessible for hours on Monday.
The exchange announced on Twitter that it temporarily disabled all funding operations due to “unauthorized activity,” and later said the function has been resumed.
The breakdown lasted for about 12 hours, and it came in response to reports from users about “thefts” in their accounts.
To help allay some of the suspicions that arose due to the outage, Crypto.com issued an update at this time saying it became aware of the issue and the relevant department is investigating the matter. The crypto wallet provider and trading platform also assured their members that all funds are safe and secure.
“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,” the company noted.
However, some users reported stolen funds. Ben Baller, a crypto influencer and podcast host, also tweeted that around 4.28 Ether (roughly $15,000) had been “stolen out of nowhere” from his account. He said that he used two-factor authentication, which means the potential hacker breached the exchange’s security measures.
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
Baller later claimed that approximately 5,000 Ether, which equates to more than $16 million, were lost form a wallet belonging to Crypto.com.
I see odd activity on one of the Ethereum hot wallets on https://t.co/AbuAAkBxG1 – https://t.co/7l7MgCLnoG
It’s a pattern, the wallets receiving look like this https://t.co/2Gf48D3fqm, multiple of the same transactions to a new wallet between 2-5 ETH, funds not moved after that. https://t.co/tbGJ5RqpXS
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) January 17, 2022
Several hours later, the cryptocurrency exchange advised users to sign back into their accounts and reset their two-factor authentication (2FA).
According to its most recent update, Crypto.com reinstated deposits and withdrawals after shutting them down since 4 am GMT. It apologized to users for any inconvenience.
Update: Withdrawal services have been restored.
All funds are safe.It will take time to clear the backlogs. We appreciate your patience. https://t.co/ZKMfyTMebi
— Crypto.com (@cryptocom) January 17, 2022
Crypto.com claims to have over 10 million users worldwide, meaning any disruptions to the platform could have potentially serious consequences for the broader market.
Security issues are relatively common in the world of crypto, where exchanges operate in a lightly regulated environment and aren’t subject to the same stringent controls of traditional exchanges.
Despite the ongoing development in crypto exchanges’ technical infrastructure and engineering staff, the latest incident reminds crypto traders that access to even major platforms may become degraded or unavailable at any time.
Founded in 2016, Crypto.com stands out as a one-stop-shop for all crypto transaction needs. The digital asset exchange has had a very busy year snatching up sports sponsorships left and right. They have inked deals with European soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Formula 1 racing, Italy’s Lega Serie A, and the IIHF Hockey World Championship, amongst others.
