beincrypto.com
The official Twitter account of the KuCoin crypto exchange has been compromised, according to the company.
On April 24, KuCoin notified its users that the “@kucoincom” Twitter handle had been compromised for about 45 minutes.
Furthermore, “fake activity” posted on the social media account led to asset losses for several users, it added.
However, the losses were minimal, around $22,628 in USDT, and the exchange said it would reimburse victims.
“KuCoin will fully reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity.”
KuCoin Twitter Attack
The company confirmed that only its Twitter account had been hacked, and it had managed to regain control over it quickly.
Furthermore, it identified 22 transactions associated with the fake activity, including ETH and BTC. “To prevent more users from being harmed, we are currently examining and blocking suspicious addresses,” it said.
The KuCoin team will implement additional security measures to fortify the protection of its social media accounts, it confirmed.
It also said that an investigation into the attack was being carried out.
“We are also conducting a thorough investigation of the incident with Twitter to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
The exchange itself was not compromised, so the Twitter handle takeover may have been an inside job. However, this is only one possible theory that had not been confirmed or denied at the time of publication.
The crypto exchange is among many facing regulatory heat in the United States.
KCS Price Reaction
The KuCoin native token hasn’t reacted to the social media incursion. KCS was trading down 1.4% on the day at $8.02 at the time of writing.
However, the exchange token has lost 11% over the past week as crypto markets pulled back.
KCS is currently down 72% from its December 2021 all-time high of $28.83.
Crypto markets have been generally flat over the past 25 hours. As a result, total capitalization was around $1.21 trillion. Moreover, markets have declined 9% since their 2023 highs in mid-April.