Decentralized Exchange Mixin Kernel Confirms Hack on Its Platform Involving Approximately $200M

Mixin Kernel confirmed on Sept. 25 that it was the victim of a hacking attack which had resulted in the loss of assets on the mainnet. The decentralized exchange said it has since suspended deposit and withdrawal services and only expects to restore normal services once a probe into the incident is completed.

Funds Worth Approximately $200 Million Involved

The decentralized exchange Mixin Kernel announced on Sept. 25 that its platform was a victim of a hacking attack which resulted “in the loss of assets on the mainnet.” The attack, which occurred two days earlier, involved funds worth approximately $200 million, the exchange said in a statement issued via X (formerly Twitter).

Mixin Kernel said it has not only suspended deposit and withdrawal services on the Mixin network but sought assistance from Google and the blockchain security firm Slowmist. According to the statement, suspended services will only be restored “once the vulnerabilities are confirmed and fixed.”

SlowMist Security Alert

On September 23, the Mixin Network cloud service provider database was attacked, the amount of funds involved was ~ $200M.

SlowMist is assisting in the investigation. Please wait for @MixinKernel updates for more information.

— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) September 25, 2023

The decentralized exchange’s confirmation of the hack came just minutes after the Slowmist team issued a security alert about the attack.

Meanwhile, the Mixin Kernel team said its founder Feng Xiaodong would provide an update on Sept. 25 (1:00 a.m. EST) about steps being taken to recover the lost funds via a livestream. The team added:

Please help spread the word. We will summarize the content in English afterward[s] for easy reference. We will try our best to minimize the losses and deeply apologize for this. Thank you, everyone, for your continuous support.

On social media, some users have questioned why platforms claiming to be decentralized are using services provided by centralized cloud service providers. However, one user characterized the hacking attack as a rug-pull incident initiated by CEO Cedric Fung.

What are your thoughts about this hacking incident? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

via Terence Zimwara