Taiwanese trading firm Kronos Research hacked for estimated $25 million: ZachXBT

Quick Take

  • Kronos Research, a Taipei-based trading firm, market maker, and VC fund, was hacked after an attacker gained access to Kronos’s API keys, the company said in a post on X. 
  • Blockchain researcher ZachXBT estimated the total loss at $25 million, which Kronos said does not reflect a significant portion of their equity. 

Kronos Research, a trading, market making, and venture capital firm based in Taipei, experienced unauthorized access of its API keys on Saturday, the company said in a post on X, describing potential losses as "not a significant portion of our equity." 

Blockchain researcher ZachXBT mapped recent rapid outflows from a wallet that summed to over $25 million worth of ether in a reply to Kronos's post, saying it looks like $25 million was stolen. 

Kronos paused all trading following the event, which led to problems on Woo X, the exchange that was incubated by Kronos and on which Kronos serves as a key market maker. In a statement, Woo X reiterated that client funds are safe before announcing a temporary pause on certain asset pairs due to the loss of liquidity from Kronos's pause. Spot and perpetual trading and withdrawals have now resumed.

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Kronos, in its post, said it aims to resume trading as soon as possible, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block. 


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Zack Abrams is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Before coming to The Block, he was the Head Writer at Coinage, a Web3 media outlet covering the biggest stories in Web3. The story he co-reported on Do Kwon won a 2022 Best in Business Journalism award from SABEW. Other projects included a deep dive into SBF's defense based on exclusive documents and unveiling the identity of the hacker behind one of 2023's biggest crypto hacks — so far. He can be reached via X @zackdabrams or email, [email protected].

Editor

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