London-based cryptocurrency trader Wintermute has reportedly lost about $160 million in digital assets to a theft by hackers.
Wintermute remains solvent after its decentralized finance (DeFi) operations were the target of the theft, Reuters reported Tuesday (Sept. 20), citing a tweet by Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy.
“We’ve been hacked for about $160M in our defi operations. Cefi and OTC operations are not affected,” Gaevoy said in one of the tweets in a thread.
“We are solvent with over twice that amount in equity left,” Gaevoy added in another tweet.
We’ve been hacked for about $160M in our defi operations. Cefi and OTC operations are not affected
— wishful cynic (@EvgenyGaevoy) September 20, 2022
The thread was retweeted by Wintermute, with the message, “Important message from our CEO on the Wintermute hack.”
Important message from our CEO on the Wintermute hack https://t.co/YP6Pnn100S
— Wintermute (@wintermute_t) September 20, 2022
PYMNTS has reached out to Wintermute for comment.
Wintermute is a leading global crypto market maker that partners with more than 50 crypto exchanges and projects to provide liquidity, according to the company’s website.
The hack comes about six weeks after the $190 million hack of Nomad, a cross-chain bridge protocol used to make transactions between different blockchains.
Read more: Hack of Crypto Payments Bridge Turns into $190M DeFi Free-for-All
In March, cross-chain payments bridge Ronin Network was the target of a $625 million hack.
As PYMNTS reported at the time, that event was preceded by a $326 million hack of Ethereum-to-Solana bridge Wormhole in February and a $612 million hack of the Poly Network bridge serving 15 blockchains in August 2021.
See more: PYMNTS Crypto Crime Series: Latest DeFi Hack Drains Record $625M
The announcement of the Wintermute hack comes one day after the U.S. Treasury Department announced it is seeking public comment on any risks that digital assets pose in terms of illicit finance and national security.
Read more: Treasury Department Seeks Public Comment on Crypto Risks
That Request for Comment follows President Joe Biden’s executive order, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” which focuses on consumer and investment protection, protecting financial stability, preventing illicit finance, advancing U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness, promoting financial inclusion and encouraging responsible innovation.
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