Justin Sun’s cryptocurrency exchange HTX has been hacked twice since rebranding from Huobi in
September 2023, raising questions from the crypto community.
Tron founder Justin Sun’s crypto businesses have come under repeated attack from hackers over the
past two months, with at least four hacks of the largest exploits targeting platforms related to the crypto entrepreneur.
Sun’s HTX crypto exchange has been hacked at least twice since the platform rebranded from Huobi on
Sept. 13, 2023. The first HTX hack occurred just a few days after the rebranding, with an unknown
attacker stealing nearly $8 million in crypto on Sept. 24, 2023.
In its second hack, HTX reportedly lost $13.6 million due to a hot wallet breach in an incident that
affected the wider HTX, Tron and BitTorrent ecosystem. Previously known as Huobi, HTX was acquired by Sun in October 2022.
The hackers have also focused on other Sun-related cryptocurrency platforms, including Sun-owned
cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex and Huobi’s HTX Eco Chain (HECO) bridge.
Poloniex suffered a significant security breach on Nov. 10, when attackers stole at least $100 million in
cryptocurrency from the exchange. Sun, who acquired the business in 2019, reported on X (formerly
Twitter) that Poloniex disabled the wallet. According to the blockchain security firm CertiK,
the incident was likely a “private key compromise.”
Huobi’s HECO chain bridge, a tool designed for moving digital assets between HECO and other
networks like Ethereum, also suffered a massive breach. On Nov. 22, unknown hackers compromised
HECO, sending at least $86.6 million to suspicious addresses.