BigONE Crypto Exchange Hacked for $27 Million: Funds Being Laundered, Users Reassured

The cryptocurrency exchange BigONE has fallen victim to a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of digital assets valued at $27 million. The breach occurred during the night of July 16, when the platform’s security systems detected suspicious activity linked to unusual fund movements within its hot wallet. An ensuing investigation confirmed that the incident was a targeted attack carried out by external actors.

Despite the magnitude of the loss, BigONE representatives assured that private keys and user data remained uncompromised. All client losses, they emphasized, would be fully reimbursed using the company’s internal reserves. The platform underscored that users would experience no adverse effects and that all assets would be restored in full.

According to exchange officials, the attack vector was swiftly identified and neutralized. To track the movement of the stolen assets, BigONE has partnered with blockchain analytics firm SlowMist, which is assisting in tracing the transactions across various blockchains. Concurrently, Lookonchain—a blockchain data analysis platform—reported that the perpetrators have already begun laundering the stolen funds, converting them into 120 Bitcoins, 1,272 Ether, 2,625 Solana tokens, and 23.3 million Tron.

According to a statement by the company, the full functionality of the platform will soon be restored. As of this writing, trading and deposit services have resumed, while withdrawals and OTC operations remain temporarily suspended.

While specific details of the attack have yet to be disclosed, SlowMist believes the incident stems from a supply chain compromise—a type of threat in which attackers infiltrate an infrastructure via vulnerabilities in third-party software or services.

In the wake of the breach, analyst ZachXBT pointed out that BigONE had previously been cited in reports as a platform frequently used to launder proceeds from scams, including romance fraud and fake investment schemes. In his view, such intrusions might act as a form of “natural cleansing” for the crypto industry, helping to purge toxic actors.

The event aligns with a broader trend of rising cybercrime in the crypto space. According to Chainalysis, hackers stole over $2.17 billion during the first half of 2025—surpassing the total for all of 2024. The largest theft during this period remains the $1.5 billion ByBit hack, which has propelled North Korean groups to the top of breach statistics.

The report also highlights a shift in hacker tactics: more than 23% of the stolen funds this year were taken from individual users’ wallets rather than centralized platforms. Alarmingly, there have been incidents involving physical coercion in cryptocurrency extortion cases, particularly during periods of Bitcoin price surges—adding a grim new layer to the growing threat landscape.