Crypto forums linked to Justin Sun have been hacked 4 times in 2 months

Tron founder Justin Sun's crypto businesses have come under repeated attack from hackers over the past two months, with at least four hacks on platforms linked to the crypto entrepreneur.

Sun's HTX crypto exchange has been hacked at least twice since the platform was rebranded from Huobi on September 13, 2023. The first HTX hack happened a few days after the rebrand, an unknown attacker stole nearly $8 million on September 24th. , 2023.

In the second hack, HTX lost $30 million due to a wallet breach that was originally reported to be $13.6 million. HTX, formerly known as Huobi, was acquired by Sun in October 2022.

The hackers targeted other Sun-related crypto platforms, including Sun-owned cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex and HTX Eco Chain (HECO) Bridge.

Poloniex suffered a major security breach on November 10 when attackers stole at least $100 million in the currency. The Sun, which acquired the business in 2019, reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Poloniex had disabled its wallet. According to blockchain security firm CertiK, the incident is likely a “private key compromise.”

The HTX HECO chain bridge, a device designed to move digital assets between HTX and other networks such as Ethereum, also suffered a major breach. In the year On November 22, unknown hackers attacked HECO, sending at least $86.6 million to suspicious addresses.

Over the past two months, platforms have lost a total of nearly $208 million in all four hacks. Although Tron founder Sun has promised to compensate for the HTX and Poloniex hacks, some crypto enthusiasts have urged the community to stay away from the exchange, raising several questions about who might be involved in the hacks.

One crypto watcher argued that Sun is “obviously in big trouble,” noting that Poloniex has been shut down for five days and that HTX offers 100% interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

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“We can see that all these attacks have the same target, Justin Sun's projects,” Haken, a spokesperson for the crypto security firm, told Cointelegraph. The agent hypothesized that the hacks could have been caused by an “insider leaking the information”:

“The most common reasons are private key leaks in all cases. […] These projects should improve the process of storing sensitive information such as private keys, and if there is no such amount of money, keep a portion of the money in a cold wallet.

An HTX spokesperson said it will fully compensate users for losses incurred in the recent attack, which will not affect the wider Tron and BitTorrent ecosystems. Poloniex did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph's request for comment.

The ongoing speculation comes months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit against Sun in March 2023, accusing him and his companies, such as Tron and BitTorne, of fraud and other violations of securities laws.

A US court in April 2023 issued a subpoena to Sun's Singapore address in connection with the case. In August, SEC litigation over Sun continued.

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Update (November 24 and 1:20 am UTC): This article has been updated to reflect the latest footage from the November 22 hack and HTX response.