According to a tweet made on Twitter, the largest cryptocurrency options exchange, Deribit, was the victim of a $28 million theft.
Deribit hot wallet compromised, but client funds are safe and loss is covered by company reserves
Our hot wallet was hacked for USD 28m earlier this evening just before midnight UTC on 1 November 2022.
— Deribit (@DeribitExchange) November 2, 2022
In the midst of ongoing security checks, withdrawals have been momentarily stopped. When the exchange will be able to reopen is still unknown. The trading platform claims that the cash of its customers are secure and adds that any losses have been paid by its own reserves, so the hacking incident won’t have an impact on Deribit’s insurance fund.Â
Deribit asserts that it keeps 99% of its clients’ money in cold storage locations. The hot wallet for the exchange was compromised by the attacker.
The exchange has emphasized that its operations won’t be impacted by the current attack and that it continues to be in a healthy financial position.
Deribit, Top Crypto Options
Data from the derivatives data site Coinglass show that Deribit is still in charge of the bitcoin options market. With its current headquarters in Panama, the Dutch derivatives exchange holds 89.76% of the market for Bitcoin options.Â
CME, a world leader in derivatives with headquarters in Chicago, comes in second with a 6.87% market share. Also included in the top five are FTX and Okex. Deribit has a staggering 96.64% market share, effectively dominating the Ethereum options industry.
Deribit, which is now the subject of behind-the-scenes turmoil, purportedly received a $500 million stake from the now-defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
