Atomic Wallet freezes $2M in ‘suspicious deposits’ on exchanges

The freeze resulted from a collaboration between Atomic Wallet, forensic companies and centralized exchanges following reports from users claiming unauthorized transactions from their wallets.

Hacked cryptocurrency wallet Atomic Wallet has frozen $2 million in “suspicious deposits” in a joint effort with major crypto exchanges.

Announcing the news to Cointelegraph on Oct. 19, Atomic Wallet said that blockchain intelligence firms Chainalysis and Crystal have assisted the wallet firm in identifying and containing the threat.

Citing reports from Chainalysis and Crystal, Atomic Wallet reported that the “threat actor” used sophisticated methods to bridge the funds to the Bitcoin blockchain, including bridges and mixers. “Most funds have ultimately ended up on the Tron blockchain and Bitcoin network,” the report reads.

The report specifically mentioned that the funds were bridged through the Avalanche bridge and then to the Tron blockchain.

“Atomic Wallet extends heartfelt gratitude to the centralized cryptocurrency exchanges collaborating promptly to freeze assets linked to reported transactions. Their swift response and cooperation were pivotal in mitigating the impact of the incident that happened to some users,” the firm said in the announcement.

Atomic Wallet declined to provide more details to Cointelegraph about what cryptocurrency exchanges have cooperated with the wallet firm and froze the funds. “We cannot share the details of the exchanges where funds have been frozen at this stage to maintain the integrity of the ongoing investigation. There has yet to be a timeline for when more information can be provided,” a spokesperson for the firm said.

The news comes months after Atomic Wallet suffered a major hack in June 2023, with the platform reportedly losing millions in stolen crypto assets. Atomic Wallet didn’t clarify what conditions exactly led to the exploit.

In August, a group of affected Atomic Wallet users reportedly launched a class action against the firm, which suffered a major breach and $100 million in losses.

Magazine: Ethereum restaking: Blockchain innovation or dangerous house of cards?