Centralized exchange WOO X investigates 'contained incident' resulting in estimated $14 million loss
Quick Take
- WOO X said it is investigating “a contained incident” impacting nine customer accounts on Thursday resulting in an estimated $14 million worth of losses.
- The company said it is tracking the funds alongside external security firms and will make customers whole.
WOO X, a little-known centralized crypto trading platform, said it is investigating “a contained incident” impacting nine customer accounts on Thursday. The company noted that “unauthorized withdrawals were placed,” totalling an estimated $14 million.
“The incident was quickly detected and as a precaution, withdrawals were paused and many of the withdrawals were blocked,” WOO X said. “We've already contacted the affected users, and all unauthorized withdrawals will be covered.”
The firm said it is working with external security teams and other exchanges to halt the flow of funds. WOO X trading volumes have spiked 264.8% over the past 24-hours, according to CoinGecko data.
Crypto security firm Cyvers has begun tracking funds as they move along the Arbitrum, Bitcoin, BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Tron networks. The firm said about $1 million worth of USDT was swapped into ETH with an additional $7.3 million worth of funds later sent to a new address.
An additional five wrapped BTC tokens on the BNB Chain were swapped into BNB tokens and sent to a new address, Cyvers said.
Crypto hacks are not an uncommon occurrence in the industry. Chainalysis estimates there were losses totaling at least $2.2 billion in 2024 across centralized and decentralized blockchain platforms. This represents a 21.07% year-over-year increase during a year that saw rising crypto prices, which is typically a driving factor in increasing crypto crime.
WOO X is a Seychelles-registered centralized exchange established in 2019. The firm most recently raised $9 million in a 2024 funding round with participation from Wintermute, Selini Capital, among others.
Notably, in 2023, WOO X temporarily paused trading activity after its largest market maker and incubator, Kronos Research, experienced a $25 million hack, in a move that caused it to revamp its market mechanisms.
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