Philippines-based Exchange Coins.ph Loses 12.2 Million XRP Tokens in Possible Exploit

The Philippines-based cryptocurrency exchange Coins.ph suffered a major security breach on Tuesday, resulting in the loss of over 12.2 million XRP tokens, with an estimated value of $6 million. The incident appears to have been a sophisticated exploit carried out by a hacker who utilized various exchange platforms and non-custodial services to launder the stolen XRP.

The breach unfolded rapidly, with the attacker executing 13 transactions, each involving the exchange of 999,999.999 XRP tokens, along with an additional transaction involving 200,000 XRP tokens. The entire incident reportedly took place within a span of just 30 minutes, as observed by blockchain explorer XRP Scan.

One notable aspect of the breach is that one of the transactions seemingly failed to process successfully, potentially leading to a break in the attacker’s execution plan. The apparent glitch in the exploit became visible on the XRP Scan, highlighting the intricacy of the operation.

Following the successful theft of nearly 12.2 million XRP tokens, the hacker proceeded to obfuscate the origins of the stolen funds by sending them through multiple exchanges and platforms. Among the destinations included in the illicit fund transfer were OKX, WhiteBIT, OrbitBridge (a cross-blockchain exchange), SimpleSwap, ChangeNOW, Fixed Float, and other undisclosed locations.

WhiteBIT, one of the involved exchanges, acted promptly in response to the incident. A spokesperson from WhiteBIT reported, “As soon as we received a request from Coins.ph, we promptly reacted and blocked 445,000 Ripple. In addition, WhiteBIT has reached out to Cristal and Chainalysis, requesting to flag addresses associated with stolen cryptocurrencies.” This rapid response by WhiteBIT could aid in tracing and potentially recovering some of the stolen XRP tokens.

The breach raises significant concerns over the security and risk management practices employed by cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as the ongoing threat of cyberattacks in the cryptocurrency industry. Investigations are likely to be underway, with the community closely following developments regarding this incident.

Cryptocurrency exchanges continue to be a target for cybercriminals, and security remains a top priority for these platforms as they strive to protect user assets from such exploits. Coins.ph, as well as other exchanges, will face increased scrutiny and pressure to enhance their security measures to prevent future incidents of this nature.