Hacked crypto exchange KuCoin resumes crypto deposits and withdrawals

The KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange is partly restoring deposits and withdrawals following a major hack.

As KuCoin officially announced on Oct. 7, the platform has completed the wallet security upgrade for major cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT).

Following the upgrade, KuCoin has resumed the deposit and withdrawal service of BTC, ETH, and ERC-20-based USDT. According to the announcement, USDT running on other blockchains like EOS, Tron, and Omni is not yet available for withdrawals. KuCoin stated:

“KuCoin is gradually restoring the deposit and withdrawal services of all tokens, and the full service of USDT will also resume soon. Please stay tuned for the official announcement.”

KuCoin noted that BTC, ETH, and USDT have all generated new deposit addresses. While the old addresses are still available, the exchange recommended users to update their deposit addresses.

A spokesperson for KuCoin told Cointelegraph that the platform has restored access to 65 digital assets out of total 230 tradable assets so far. The exchange is still in the process of handling reimbursement of stolen funds. "We are still discussing with all projects affected to work out the best solution for three parties — token holders, the project and KuCoin users," KuCoin's representative said.

The partial recovery of crypto withdrawals on KuCoin comes about 10 days after the exchange suffered a massive hack in late September. While the exchange initially estimated user losses to account for $150 million, major crypto analytics firm Chainalysis estimated losses at $275 million.

KuCoin Global CEO Johnny Lyu previously told Cointelegraph that the breach affected hot wallets holding BTC, ETH, and ERC-20 tokens. A large number of stolen ERC-20 tokens were subsequently frozen by major crypto projects. On Oct. 3, Lyu announced that KuCoin executives have managed to find the suspects of the hack with “substantial proof at hand.”