Mixin Network was hit by an exploit on Sunday, resulting in a loss of up to $200 million, as reported in a tweet by the team earlier today.
The project features a wallet for cross-chain asset transfers and a decentralized exchange to swap assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and Dogecoin among others.
In its statement, the Mixin Network team revealed that hackers attacked its “cloud service provider” with a potential “loss of assets worth up to $200 million.”
[Announcement] In the early morning of September 23, 2023 Hong Kong time, the database of Mixin Network’s cloud service provider was attacked by hackers, resulting in the loss of some assets on the mainnet. We have contacted Google and blockchain security company @SlowMist_Team…
— Mixin Kernel (@MixinKernel) September 25, 2023
The tweet also read that deposit and withdrawal services had been “temporarily suspended.”
The team plans to reopen the service “after discussion and consensus among all nodes.” Mixin Network’s transactions are validated by 35 mainnet nodes.
Moreover, the note added that “Mixin founder Feng Xiaodong will explain this incident in a public Mandarin livestream” at 12am EST on September 25.
The project has security audits conducted by blockchain chain security firms in SlowMist, IO Active, and CertiK, according to its Github page.
The team added that they have contacted Google and SlowMist to “assist with the investigation.”
Decrypt has reached out to the Mixin Network team and auditors for further information.
Proponents of decentralization ridiculed the blockchain’s design, with particular focus on the team’s mention of the “database of Mixin Network’s cloud service provider” and the arbitrary suspension of withdrawals, which raised concerns that the network might be more centralized than initially advertised.
