Coinbene, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore, is involved in a great deal of drama over the loss of $100 million worth of cryptocurrency. Speculations are running wild as people debate whether that money was lost due to a crypto exchange hack or an inside job.
Towards the end of March 2019, more than $100 million in crypto assets was moved from Coinbene’s wallet to an anonymous address. At the time, Coinbene denied being hacked and stated that the exchange was undergoing maintenance, which is purportedly still under way.
Was Coinbene Hacked or Was It an Inside Job?
Blockchain analysis firm Elementus previously reported on March 27 that the Coinbene incident bore all the hallmarks of a hack.
Per the report, Elementus stated:
“After leaving CoinBene, the tokens were quickly moved into Etherdelta, where they were sold for ETH. A large amount of funds were also moved into centralized Exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, and Bittrex. The funds continue to move into exchanges as I write this.”
While this suggests the exchange was hacked, because the tokens were moved around and sold, there are some peculiar details about things that happened at Coinbene during this time.
As reported by Cointelegraph, who received exclusive details from stakeholders affected by the situation, while the hackers purportedly stole $100 million worth of ERC-20 tokens, they spared valuable ETH and about 1.2 billion Maximine (MXM), worth about $118.6 million.
Shortly afterward, Coinbene ended up with $200 million of MXM and Maximine’s price surged. It’s a very peculiar coincidence, and is leading to speculation that Maximine and Coinbene were in cahoots, and that the so-called “hack” is in fact an inside job.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the Coinbene incident is all very strange as the exchange has been under maintenance for quite some time and is still under maintenance today. There are still many questions as to what is going on, and Coinbene has failed to comment on the proceedings.
As this situation develops, we will divulge information regarding the Coinbene incident as it arises, including really happened and who is at fault.
Do you think Coinbene was hacked or did they collaborate with Maximine (MXM) in some way to pump their coin with “stolen” funds from Coinbene? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
