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- Rizwan Ansari
Rizwan Ansari
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Sohrab KhawasSohrab is a passionate cryptocurrency news writer with over five years of experience covering the industry. He keeps a keen interest in blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize finance. Whether he's trading or writing, Sohrab always keeps his finger on the pulse of the crypto world, using his expertise to deliver informative and engaging articles that educate and inspire. When he's not analyzing the markets, Sohrab indulges in his hobbies of graphic design, minimal design or listening to his favorite hip-hop tunes.
- Feb 21, 2026 11:53 UTC
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IoTeX Suffers $8 Million Hack After Private Key Compromise
IoTeX lost nearly $8 million after hacker gained access through compromised private key.
Hacker stole multiple tokens including USDC, USDT, IOTX, WBTC, PAYG, and BUSD assets.
Stolen funds converted into Ethereum and later bridged to Bitcoin using THORChain protocol.
IoTeX announce that they are working with exchanges and security firms to trace and freeze stolen assets.
As the crypto industry adopts AI-focused blockchain netowrk it is exposing itself to more security risks. IoTeX, a blockchain platform built for real-world AI, recently suffered a major security hack, resulting in nearly $8 million in losses.
Here’s how the IoTeX $8 million hack happen & how the IoTeX team is responding to it. Are users’ funds safe?
How IoTeX $8 Million Hack happen?
PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, said the hacker carried out the attack after compromising a private key. As a result, the hacker had complete access to the token safe and could take out various cryptocurrency assets.
The hacker compromised several tokens, including USDC, USDT, IOTX, PAYG, WBTC, and BUSD. They withdrew these assets directly from the smart contract vault, showing they had authorized access rather than exploiting a smart contract bug.
The attack turned serious when the hacker allegedly used the same access to create 111 million CIOTEX tokens.
This unauthorized token creation increased the scale of the damage and raised concerns about token supply integrity.
Stolen Funds Converted From ETH to Bitcoin
The hacker quickly began the process of transferring the stolen assets after stealing the money.
Later, the hacker traded the stolen tokens for Ethereum. The hacker then used the THORChain cross-chain protocol to bridge Ethereum to Bitcoin.
This step makes tracking and recovery more difficult, as funds move across different blockchain networks and become harder to freeze.
Following the hack, the IoTeX native token IOTX drop 7%, trading below $0.050 with a market cap hitting $47.46 million.
IoTeX Team Responds With Investigation
In reaction to the hack, IoTeX was quick to post on X confirming that they were aware of the hack and were working to investigate the issue.
The team confirmed that they were working with major crypto exchanges and blockchain security partners to trace back the stolen funds and stop any further movement.
At the same time, exchanges and partners are helping monitor wallets linked to the attacker and may freeze assets if they enter centralized platforms.
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FAQs
The hacker compromised a private key, gaining full access to IoTeX’s token safe to withdraw assets and create 111 million unauthorized CIOTEX tokens.
The recent security breach resulted in approximately $8 million in losses across multiple tokens, including USDC, USDT, and IOTX.
IoTeX is collaborating with blockchain security firms and major exchanges to track the stolen funds and freeze assets if they enter centralized platforms.
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