KuCoin hack: exchange recovers 100% of stolen funds

After suffering a major hack in September last year, KuCoin, the eighth-largest crypto-exchange by trading volume, today addressed the security incident which resulted in the theft of $285 million. KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu revealed in a press release emailed to AMBCrypto that the exchange had managed to recover all the funds lost due to the incident.  

According to the chief executive, KuCoin’s team cooperated with other exchanges in the crypto-industry as well as project partners to recover a majority of the funds. This amount translates to a recovery of $222 million or 78% of the stolen funds. The exchange further cooperated with law enforcement and security institutions to recover another $17.45 million or 6%. 

Explaining how cybersecurity is a major concern for crypto-exchanges, Lyu added,

“When we encountered the breach, we acted quickly and transparently to protect all our users and partners. First, we gradually resumed the deposit and withdrawal services within a week, before fully restoring all features. “

KuCoin’s insurance fund helped the exchange recover the remaining 16% of the funds, worth about $45.55 million. Additionally, the CEO claimed that the exchange ensured that no users sustained any losses due to the September hack. KuCoin further said that it has also “greatly strengthened” its security level since. 

After the hack, the Seychelles-based exchange had decided to freeze all wallets and disable services. However, according to its October 2020 update, the exchange was allowing deposits and withdrawals for BTC, ETH, and USDT stablecoins after upgrading wallet security for the aforementioned cryptocurrencies.    

To date, the identity of the perpetrators behind the hack remains unknown. According to the CEO, the exchange has gathered all intelligence about the hackers, with the investigations still ongoing.