Institutional crypto broker FPG halts withdrawals after $20M cyberattack

Cryptocurrency brokerage firm Floating Point Group has confirmed it has halted trading, withdrawals and deposits on its platform after falling victim to a cyberattack on June 11. FPG estimates the attack resulted in a total loss of between $15 million and $20 million.

According to a June 15 tweet from FPG’s official twitter account, upon discovering the security breach FPG locked all third party accounts and migrated wallets. It later halted trading, deposits and withdrawals out of “an abundance of caution.”

1/5 On Sunday, we experienced a cyber security incident. Upon discovery, we locked all third party accounts and migrated and secured all wallets until we better understand the scope and circumstances of this incident.

— Floating Point Group (@fpgcrypto) June 14, 2023

Additionally, the firm noted that its account segregation “limited the overall impact” of the attack.

FPG is an international brokerage firm that provides institutional clients with access to crypto markets. According to its website, FPG and its clients manage $50 billion in assets.

The latest development isn’t likely to bolster institutional appetite for the crypto sector, which has already been hit by dwindling market conditions and increased hostility from regulators.

In December 2022, FPG voluntarily consulted cybersecurity firm Prescient Auditors and received its SOC 2 Type 1 certification. This certification is an official audit that verifies the overall safety of a firm’s internal data controls.

“We are working with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, our regulators, and Chainalysis to understand how this occurred and to recover assets,” wrote FPG in a subsequent comment.

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FPG also noted that due to the ongoing nature of the investigation with respective law enforcement agencies, it couldn’t publicly share any additional details.

Cointelegraph contacted FPG for further information concerning the attack but has not yet received a response.

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