Over the weekend, Kronos Research, a multifaceted trading, market-making, and venture capital firm headquartered in Taipei, fell victim to unauthorized access to its API keys. The incident prompted the company to describe the potential losses as “not a significant portion of our equity.” However, blockchain researcher ZachXBT pointed to rapid outflows from a wallet, estimating the loss at over $25 million worth of ether.
In response to the security breach, Kronos took the precautionary measure of halting all trading activities. This pause had a cascading effect on Woo X, an exchange that Kronos incubated and where it plays a pivotal role as a market maker. Woo X, in reassurance to its clients, stated the safety of their funds but acknowledged a temporary pause on certain asset pairs due to liquidity issues resulting from Kronos’s trading halt.
After the initial disruption, Woo X has now resumed spot and perpetual trading as well as withdrawals. Kronos, emphasizing its commitment to swiftly addressing the situation, aims to resume trading operations at the earliest. Despite the severity of the incident, Kronos has yet to provide additional comments in response to inquiries about the security breach. The event underscores the vulnerability of cryptocurrency-related firms to cyber threats and the consequential impact on both their operations and affiliated exchanges. Investors and industry observers will be closely monitoring the developments surrounding Kronos and Woo X in the aftermath of this security incident.
