Among the affected tokens there were 10 million CRPT tokens, used to power the Crypterium payment system and even pay network fees.
Crypterium, a crypto card processing fintech company, has announced its plans to conduct a 1:1 swap, which will see its unaffected CRPT tokens transferred to a new smart contract for security purposes. This is according to a press release seen on October 21. The migration will boost security and prevent bad actors from using the stolen funds after KuCoin, one of the leading crypto exchanges in Asia, was breached towards the end of last month with assets worth over $281 million stolen.
According to Johnny Lyu, CEO KuCoin, the hackers gained access to the platform’s hot wallets’ private keys and began to make huge BTC and ETH withdrawals. The security team moved fast to stop the attack and moved what was left to new hot wallets before freezing customer deposits and withdrawals. Among tokens stolen include BTC, BSV, ETH, LTC, XLM, TRX, USDT, and CRPT. The hackers seemed inexperienced as they tried to move the funds to other exchanges and DeFi protocols to sell them; however, exchanges that detected the tainted tokens were able to freeze them, preventing the thieves from making withdrawals. KuCoin has reassured its users that they will be fully refunded.
The Swap
Among the affected tokens there were 10 million CRPT tokens, used to power the Crypterium payment system, and even pay network fees. According to Austin Kimm, COO at Crypterium, the swap is a joint venture between the company and KuCoin to protect the CRPT users worldwide and render the efforts of the thieves useless.
Unlike the usual swaps where tokens are moved from one blockchain to another, the CRPT swap will see the underlying smart contract on Ethereum replaced with a new one. It’s a technical maneuver that will apply only to the unaffected tokens, thereby isolating the stolen tokens. Consequently, hackers will find themselves with limited options for moving around the stolen CRPT tokens since the original smart contract will no longer be supported.
The swap process will be automatic, and as a holder of the tokens, you don’t have to do anything to ensure you are covered. However, even though the process will cater to all tokens, even those stored on third-party platforms like KuCoin, Liquid, and HitBTC, Crypterium notes that the first priority will be tokens stored within its wallet. Therefore, to avoid any swap delays as a holder, you are advised to move the CRPT tokens from the exchanges back to the Crypterium wallet until November 23, 2020, 00:00 UTC.
The company notes that it will keep accepting token deposits based on the old smart contract from external wallets until that date. The platform also promises to cater to the high fees incurred by users as they move back the tokens. They will be compensated in CRPT tokens of an equal amount.
After the swap happens, holders of the tokens will see the transactions recorded on the history tab. Additionally, the swap will not affect the value or amount of CRPT tokens held, and trading of the tokens will continue uninterrupted throughout the period. Pay attention since funds sent to the original smart contract will be lost forever after the swap occurs; therefore, the company strongly advises against using the old smart contract.
- Original smart contract: 0x80a7e048f37a50500351c204cb407766fa3bae7f
- New smart contract: 0x08389495D7456E1951ddF7c3a1314A4bfb646d8B
Launch of Virtual Crypterium Card And AI-Powered Price Predictions
The company also mentioned the launch of a virtual crypto card that will boast the same cool features seen on its plastic version in the press statement. The Crypterium Card Visa Virtual Edition is seamlessly integrated with the platform’s wallet and mobile payments systems.
According to Steven Parker, CEO of the company, the card is faster to order. It will offer its unique features to over 30,000 crypto holders who use the Crypterium payment system and help the platform build a bigger audience worldwide.
Additionally, the Crypterium wallet will now offer an AI-based price prediction covering over 140 crypto assets. The new feature should make it easier for investors to identify potentially profitable tokens and make their investing easier. It boasts over 70% accuracy with the ability to process over 200 terabytes of complex data and make predictions based on numerous variables. There will be free predictions for a few popular tokens; however, to unlock the full list of coins, one can pay $2.99 a day or $60 a month.
Founder and editor at BTC PEERS. Andrey writes about financial experiments, DeFi, cryptocurrency, and blockchain.