Share this article
Justin Sun Confirms HTX, Heco Chain Exploited After $100M in Suspicious Transfers
HTX withdrawals and deposits have been temporarily suspended, and all losses will be covered by the exchange, Sun said.
Updated Mar 8, 2024, 5:31 p.m. Published Nov 22, 2023, 1:13 p.m.
Crypto exchange HTX and blockchain protocol Heco Chain were hacked for a cumulative $97 million in various tokens earlier Wednesday, Justin Sun, one of the investors at the exchange, confirmed in a post.
Sun said HTX will fully compensate for any losses originating from the exchange. Deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while the remaining funds are secure.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
“We are investigating the specific reasons for the hacker attack. Once we complete the investigation and identify the cause, we will resume services,” Sun said.
HTX and Heco Cross-Chain Bridge Undergo Hacker Attack. HTX Will Fully Compensate for HTX's hot wallet Losses. Deposits and Withdrawals Temporarily Suspended. All Funds in HTX Are Secure, and the Community Can Rest Assured. We are investigating the specific reasons for the hacker…
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) November 22, 2023
Blockchain security firm Cyver flagged suspicious transfers to the tune of $85 million earlier Wednesday. It said in a message to CoinDesk that the attack was due to a suspected private key leak, which allowed their holders to access the Heco bridge, which lets users transfer tokens between Heco Chain and Ethereum.
Heco Chain was set up by HTX, which continued to be one of its maintainers. A HTX spokesperson told CoinDesk that HTX and Heco Chain operate independently.
The incident follows a smaller $8 million exploit of HTX in October, where hackers were able to steal 500 ether from the exchange. All losses were fully covered in the days following the incident.
UPDATE (Nov. 22, 14:07 UTC): Adds sentence from HTX spokesperson.
More For You
L1 tokens broadly underperformed in 2025 despite a backdrop of regulatory and institutional wins. Explore the key trends defining ten major blockchains below.
What to know:
2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns.
This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026.
More For You
Ethereum’s ‘Glamsterdam’ upgrade aims to fix MEV fairness
The full scope of Glamsterdam has not yet been finalized, but developers are targeting it to go live in 2026.
What to know:
- Ethereum developers, fresh off last month’s successful Fusaka upgrade, which cut down costs for nodes, are already moving full-steam ahead on planning the blockchain’s next major change.
- Glamsterdam is a two simultaneous upgrades taking place on Ethereum’s two core layers.
- At the heart of the upgrade is ePBS and Block-level Access Lists.
- Developers haven't decided on the full scope of the upgrade but are targeting it for 2026.
Top Stories
