Gatecoin Exchange Hacked for $2 Million

Summary #

On May 09, 2016, cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin was hacked, resulting in the theft of approximately $2 million in cryptocurrencies. Hackers gained access to the exchange’s hot wallets and stole funds.

Attackers #

The identity of the hackers who carried out the attack on Gatecoin is unknown.

BTC Wallet:

• 132ymu2ufMP3mDCo9qwKc173PV2Bbm4T2g

ETH Wallets:

• 0x04786aada9deea2150deab7b3b8911c309f5ed90
• 0xc062dceed93087c9112ff7b02d53e928e49cec09
• 0x1342a001544b8b7ae4a5d374e33114c66d78bd5f
• 0xd4914762f9bd566bd0882b71af5439c0476d2ff6

Losses #

Gatecoin estimated the losses from the hack to be approximately $2 million. The stolen assets included:

• 185,000 ETH
• 250 BTC

Timeline #

• May 09, 2016, 6:14 PM +UTC: Hacker makes a malicious transaction.
• May 14, 2016: Gatecoin reported the hack of its hot wallets and started an investigation.

Security Failure Causes #

• Wallet System Vulnerability: The hacker managed to change the system in such a way that the transfers of deposits to ETH bypassed the multi-signature and went directly to the hot wallet during the hacking period.