HTX stakeholder Justin Sun confirmed the hack in a post, revealing that the attacker managed to steal 5,000 ETH from the exchange, worth around $8 million at current prices.
Sun assured that user funds remain secure as the exchange has covered the losses. He also claimed the stolen amount is relatively small compared to the $3 billion in assets held by HTX users, equating to just two weeks of platform revenue.
“As a result, all funds are secure, and trading operations have continued as usual. We promptly addressed and resolved all issues, restoring the platform to its normal state without delay,” Sun wrote.
In a bold move, Sun also offered the hacker a 5% bounty as an incentive to return the stolen ETH. He said HTX would hire the hacker as a security advisor if they sent back the funds.
However, Sun warned they will get law enforcement involved if the ETH is not returned within 7 days.
Per DeFiLlama, around $10 million flowed out of HTX after the incident. The exchange still holds $2.73 million in user funds.
The hack went undetected until Cybers Alerts posted details on Sunday morning. About an hour later, Sun acknowledged the breach publicly.
An HTX wallet also messaged the hacker asking for the ETH back and offering a 5% white hat bonus, but the funds remained stolen. The hack caused a minor drop in TRX, HTX’s native token.
