In recent years, Turkey’s economy has struggled with high inflation rates, leading many individuals to turn to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as a perceived safe haven. This surge in adoption has propelled Turkey into fourth place globally as a crypto trading hub.
BtcTurk, one of Turkey’s most prominent crypto exchanges, faced a significant cybersecurity threat involving the hacking of 10 of its hot wallets. While this compromising of sensitive information had severe financial implications, the majority of assets – stored in cold wallets – remain secure and unaffected.
Following the June 2024 attack, BtcTurk quickly recognized the breach and alerted the relevant security authorities. As a precautionary measure, the exchange has suspended cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals, ensuring that user assets remain secured. Additionally, ZachXBT, a blockchain researcher, revealed suspicious large-scale transactions amounting to roughly $54 million in Avalanche tokens, most likely linked to the hack and transferred to other prominent exchanges. Furthermore, an online sportsbook and casino, Sportsbet, incurred losses of more than $3.5 million due to an unrelated cyber heist.
In an unrelated case, CoinStats, a prominent crypto wallet service, announced a major security breach affecting in excess of 1,000 crypto wallets, prompting the company to immediately suspend user activity and advise affected individuals to take remedial action. Fortunately, the implicated wallets and crypto exchanges were excluded from the breach. In an unprecedented move, CoinStats publicly issued a Google document outlining the affected wallets’ details, reiterating emphasis on transparency.
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