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Crypto exchange security

Hacks, withdrawal pauses and frozen funds at crypto exchanges, and what they mean for prices and for coins left on a platform.

Crypto exchanges hold billions of dollars of customer coins in wallets they control, which makes them the largest targets in the industry. When one is breached, the usual sequence is the same: withdrawals are paused, stolen funds are traced and partly frozen, and the exchange decides whether its own reserves can cover the loss.

The market effect reaches beyond the platform. Prices of the exchange's own token usually fall hardest, liquidations spread to bitcoin and ether, and stablecoin issuers can freeze tokens linked to the theft. Our coverage follows each incident from the first pause to the post-mortem, and what it changed for customers.