Key facts
- Crypto exchange Coinsbuy lost over $8 million in a coordinated attack on Aug. 9.
- The attack spanned both the TRON and Ethereum blockchains, targeting USDT and ETH.
- On-chain analysis linked the two chains via the cross-chain swapper Bridgers.
- A significant portion of the stolen funds was laundered through the instant exchange FixedFloat.
- Coinsbuy replenished the drained wallets within 24 hours, indicating private keys were likely not compromised.
Crypto exchange Coinsbuy lost more than $8 million in a coordinated attack across the TRON and Ethereum blockchains on August 9. Blockchain security researchers identified the operation as a single incident, linking the two chains through the cross-chain swapper Bridgers.
The attacker began by draining eight TRON wallets of 6.04 million USDT and simultaneously emptied three Ethereum wallets of 1.89 million USDT and 77 ETH. The Ethereum funds were swapped via 1inch using a newly created wallet.
Approximately 79% of the stolen funds were routed through the instant exchange FixedFloat, utilizing around 50 single-use addresses to obscure the trail. Separately, ChangeNOW froze a six-figure sum after being alerted by Specter Investigations.
About 282 ETH, valued at approximately $542,000, remains untouched across five addresses. Coinsbuy reportedly refilled the drained wallets to near their pre-attack balances within 24 hours, a move that suggests the exchange does not believe its private keys were compromised. The specific attack vector, however, has not been disclosed by Coinsbuy, which has not issued a public statement.
This incident contributes to a costly year for the cryptocurrency industry, which had already seen approximately $972 million stolen by late July.