Bitmart

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BitMart is a private, worldwide cryptocurrency exchange based in the Cayman Islands and run by bachi.tech. Founded in 2017, it serves customers around the world and offers digital asset trading and related services.

In December 2021, BitMart suffered a major security breach. About $196 million worth of crypto was stolen, roughly two-thirds of the exchange’s assets. Withdrawals were paused, but trading continued for affected tokens. Hackers gained access to two hot wallets with a compromised private key, swapped the stolen assets for Ethereum using the 1inch aggregator, and sent the ETH through Tornado Cash to hide their traces.

BitMart pledged to reimburse affected users and said only the two wallets were impacted and customer funds were safe. However, after about five weeks, many users reported not receiving their funds. At the time, reports noted BitMart had just closed a Series B round, raising questions about liquidity, while some outlets said deposits were insured.

Regulatory actions: In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission opened its first cryptocurrency probe into BitMart over the loss of customer funds; the investigation was dismissed in 2023. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted a major money-laundering scheme in which BitMart was named.