Hacked Liquid exchange receives $120M debt funding from FTX

Published at: Aug. 26, 2021

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has secured $120 million in debt financing from FTX Trading after suffering a nearly $100-million hack last week.

Announcing the news Thursday, Liquid Group and FTX Trading — the owner and operator of crypto exchange FTX — said that the new funds will help Liquid improve its balance sheet and contribute to the exchange’s licensing opportunities in the key jurisdictions of Japan and Singapore. The new funding also targets new capital generation, increasing liquidity, as well as improving Liquid’s customer support, the announcement notes.

FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried said that the new financing underpins collaborative efforts of both exchanges to drive crypto adoption and provide better service to the ecosystem. ”This opportunity with Liquid allows both organizations to strengthen and reinforce the belief that regulation in crypto and knowing your customer is an important part of the future of our industry,” he stated.

The funding comes soon after Liquid suffered a major hacking incident last Thursday when the exchange’s hot wallets were compromised. According to calculations by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the Liquid hackers stole a total of $97 million in various cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), XRP, stablecoins, Bitcoin (BTC) and other tokens.

In an incident update on Monday, Liquid reassured customers that “they will not suffer any loss due to the incident,” adding that user balances will be unaffected. “We continue to work diligently to gradually restore crypto deposit and withdrawal services,” Liquid noted.

Incident update - 25th August 2021:We want to reassure our users that they will not suffer any loss due to the incident that took place on the 19th of August. There will be no impact on user balances at Liquid. https://t.co/UaakRgafFV

— Liquid Global Official (@Liquid_Global) August 25, 2021

Related: Poly Network hacker returns $258M, conducts AMA on how it went down

Founded in 2014, Liquid is a major cryptocurrency exchange licensed under Japan’s Payment Services Act through its Japanese operating entity, Quoine Corporation. Liquid’s Singapore operating entity, Quoine Pte, has also applied to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a license under Singapore’s Payment Services Act.

Liquid’s hack was the second major crypto heist that took place this month, following a massive exploit of cross-chain protocol Poly Network on Aug. 10. As of Monday, Poly Network regained control of $610 million in assets affected in the attack as the unknown hacker returned the stolen funds to the network.

Tags
Bitcoin
Business
Cryptocurrency Exchange
Singapore
Cryptocurrencies
Hacks
Funding
Sam Bankman-Fried
Japan
Related Posts
Chainalysis expands to APAC with new offices in Tokyo and Singapore
Chainalysis, a major global cryptocurrency analytics firm, is expanding its presence worldwide to embrace more jurisdictions for its crypto investigations. Providing services to federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI, Chainalysis is launching new offices in Singapore and Tokyo to better service customers in the Asia-Pacific region, the company announced on Sept. 27. By establishing the two new offices, Chainalysis is doubling down on its commitment to fully support local crypto businesses, government agencies and financial institutions. The new offices will serve as hubs for sales, professional investigative services, and training, the company’s representative said. Ulisse Dell’Orto, …
Business / Sept. 29, 2020
Creditors of Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange to vote on draft refund plan
The trustee of hacked, now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox has posted another update on the long-running process of refunding the exchange clients. Nobuaki Kobayashi, a Tokyo attorney appointed to act as civil rehabilitation trustee to manage Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy estate funds, announced Thursday that the Tokyo District Court ordered that “There were no grounds for disapproving the draft rehabilitation plan.” As previously reported, the plan was filed on Dec. 15, 2020. According to the announcement, the court has approved a repayment process schedule that includes a vote by creditors on the proposed refund plan. As part of the process, the …
Bitcoin / Feb. 25, 2021
Mt. Gox trustee files draft rehabilitation plan
On Dec. 15, Mt. Gox’s trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi filed a draft rehabilitation plan to refund Mt. Gox users. According to an official announcement posted on Mt. Gox website, the Tokyo District Court and an examiner will review the draft rehabilitation plan and determine whether to proceed with the rehabilitation proceedings as part of the draft rehabilitation plan. The move comes shortly after Kobayashi received another approval to extend the deadline for submitting a rehabilitation plan in October 2020. As reported, the Tokyo District Court extended the deadline until Dec. 15, 2020. Kobayashi previously obtained a number of similar deadline extensions …
Bitcoin / Dec. 15, 2020
FTX exchange breaks $32B valuation despite crypto winter fears
Despite growing fears over a potential cryptocurrency market downturn, major industry firms like FTX keep gaining momentum by securing hundreds of millions in fresh funding. FTX Trading, the owner and operator of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX, officially announced Monday that it closed a $400 million Series C funding round, bringing the firm to a $32 billion in valuation. The new fundraise comes several days after FTX’s United States-based sister firm FTX US also raised $400 million in a Series A round on Jan. 26, reaching an $8 billion valuation. According to the announcement, the latest fundraise saw participation from …
Bitcoin / Jan. 31, 2022
FTX acquires Japan's FCA-licensed crypto exchange Liquid
American billionaire and CEO of crypto exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried announced that his company acquired Japanese crypto firm Liquid Group and its subsidiaries. As a part of the deal, FTX will acquire Quoine Corporation, a Financial Services Agency (FSA)-approved crypto exchange. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Quoine acquired a Type I Financial Instruments Business license under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act from the Japanese regulatory authorities. FTX is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Liquid group of companies, including an FSA-registered crypto-asset exchange to provide products and services to our customers in Japan! https://t.co/rO5TznWFCU — SBF (@SBF_FTX) February 2, …
Adoption / Feb. 2, 2022