Hackers allegedly stole $69M from cryptocurrency platform Phemex

Attackers allegedly stole $69 million from cryptocurrency platform Phemex

Pierluigi Paganini
January 27, 2025

Crooks stole at least $69 million from Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Phemex in an alleged cyberattack.

Singapore-based crypto platform Phemex paused operations after a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of $69M. Phemex CEO Federico Variola stated they are restoring withdrawals and temporarily manually reviewing all requests.

On Thursday, researchers at the blockchain security firm PeckShield noticed a suspicious ‘outflow of large funds from the cryptocurrency platform.

PeckShield announced that Phemex has been hacked, resulting in a loss of ~$69.1M worth of cryptos. The security firm published a summary of stolen Phemex funds in multiple chains:

The CEO reassured customers, noting a snapshot of user balances was taken at 12 PM UTC for a loyalty reward, with details to come.

Hello all, we are progressively restoring USDT and USDC withdrawals, all reqs will be manually reviewed by our security team, so please be patient with the queue time.
We have also taken a snapshot of all users’ balances as of 12pm UTC for a reward for your support and loyalty,…

— Federico0x @Phemex (@Federico0x) January 24, 2025

Variola pointed out that the company’s cold wallets remain safe and everyone can check them.

To ensure security, withdrawals have been temporarily suspended while we conduct an emergency inspection and strengthen wallet services. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Withdrawals will be restored soon.

Phemex and the development team apologize for the disruption.… https://t.co/Gsqp2Fx7HP

— Phemex (@Phemex_official) January 23, 2025

Phemex, with over 5M users and approval to operate in several countries, joins other Singapore-based crypto platforms targeted by threat actors over the last months. Experts suspect the $69M theft was a sophisticated attack potentially linked to a nation-state actor.