{"id":17511,"date":"2026-02-21T21:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/iotex-confirms-2m-hack-rejects-4-3m-theft-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T21:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T21:00:34","slug":"iotex-confirms-2m-hack-rejects-4-3m-theft-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/iotex-confirms-2m-hack-rejects-4-3m-theft-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"IoTeX confirms $2M hack, rejects $4.3M theft claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.crypto.news\/2025\/08\/crypto-news-Hackers-have-never-been-regulated-option01.webp\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">IoTeX reported containing a hack with losses around $2 million, disputing on-chain analyst estimates placing the theft at $4.3 million.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_2dc35ac04305aa467f8ee24527397be0\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<p>\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/p>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>IoTeX confirms $2M exploit and pauses chain for security upgrades.<\/li>\n<li>Analysts estimate $4.3M after token minting and cross-chain laundering.<\/li>\n<li>Exchanges and law enforcement work to freeze stolen funds.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>The blockchain platform stated it coordinated with exchanges and law enforcement to freeze stolen funds following what it called a \u201clong-planned attack by professional actors targeting multiple chains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On-chain analyst Specter posted that IoTeX\u2019s private key may have been compromised, resulting in multiple contract assets being drained including USDC, USDT, IOTX, PAYG, WBTC, and BUSD.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The private key of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iotex_io?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">@iotex_io<\/a>  may have been compromised, resulting in their token safe being drained for a total loss of approximately $4.3M.<\/p>\n<p>The attacker drained multiple contract assets, including: USDC, USDT, IOTX, PAYG, WBTC, BUSD<\/p>\n<p>The stolen assets were swapped for ETH, and\u2026 <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xbNdwq83yD\">pic.twitter.com\/xbNdwq83yD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Specter (@SpecterAnalyst) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpecterAnalyst\/status\/2025138590393532656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">February 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The attacker swapped stolen assets for ETH and bridged 45 ETH to <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto.news\/will-bitcoin-price-crash-to-60k-as-bearish-double-top-coincides-with-5-week-etf-outflows-streak\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bitcoin<\/a>, while also minting 111 million CIOTEX tokens.<\/p>\n<p>IoTeX said chain operations and deposits will resume in 24-48 hours after security upgrades are finalized.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">IoTeX disputes $4.3M loss estimate with $2M confirmation<\/h2>\n<p>IoTeX\u2019s initial statement <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/iotex_io\/status\/2025158438901481840\">acknowledged<\/a> \u201csuspicious activity involving an IoTeX token safe\u201d and noted that \u201cpotential loss is lower than circulating rumors suggest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team said it coordinated with major exchanges and security partners actively assisting in tracing and freezing the attacker\u2019s assets.<\/p>\n<p>The updated statement confirmed \u201cthe exploit impact is around $2M USD (including USDC, USDT, IOTX, and WBTC).\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 Update on the recent security incident: <\/p>\n<p>Our team has contained the situation and the IoTeX chain is being secured. Current data confirms the exploit impact is around $2M USD (including USDC, USDT, IOTX, and WBTC). <\/p>\n<p>Investigations show this was a sophisticated, long-planned\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 IoTeX (@iotex_io) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iotex_io\/status\/2025278610375143497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">February 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Specter\u2019s analysis showed the attacker drained multiple contract assets and executed a multi-step laundering process.<\/p>\n<p>Stolen funds were swapped for ETH, with at least 45 ETH bridged to Bitcoin where tracing becomes more difficult. The minting of 111 million CIOTEX tokens shows the attacker gained control over token issuance functions.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chain secured with 24-48 hour downtime for upgrades<\/h2>\n<p>IoTeX suspended chain operations following the discovery. \u201cOur team has contained the situation and the IoTeX chain is being secured,\u201d the platform announced.<\/p>\n<p>Deposits and normal operations will resume within 24-48 hours pending completion of security upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>The team works with law enforcement to investigate and recover funds. IoTeX also committed to transparent updates as the situation develops.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/crypto.news\/iotex-contains-hack-dismisses-4-3m-loss-concerns\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IoTeX reported containing a hack with losses around $2 million, disputing on-chain analyst estimates placing the theft at $4.3 million. Summary IoTeX confirms $2M exploit and pauses chain for security upgrades. Analysts estimate $4.3M after token minting and cross-chain laundering. Exchanges and law enforcement work to freeze stolen funds. The blockchain platform stated it coordinated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":17512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"kronos_expire_date":[],"class_list":["post-17511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17511"},{"taxonomy":"kronos_expire_date","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoted.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kronos_expire_date?post=17511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}