Malaysian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued cautions over the web3 wallet service provider, Atomic Wallet. The authority published the note on its official website as part of the SEC’s initiative to enhance transparency and oversight over the growing crypto sector.
According to the investor alert list issued by the Malaysian SEC, Atomic Wallet operates a digital assets exchange (DAX) without registering with the authority. The regulator asserts that the state’s financial body won’t protect investors dealing with unauthorized crypto firms.
The list not only highlights Atomic Wallet as an unauthorized crypto firm. Malaysian SEC mentions hundreds of illegal crypto investment entities running in the country to defraud novice investors. It includes fishy investment platforms such as Crypto Exchange Malaysia, Best Exchange, Autobot Crypto, A Trade-pro, Crypto Currency, Coin W and more.
Atomic Wallet loses $100 million over a hack in 2023
Notably, Atomic Wallet suffered a major hack a while back in 2023 and incurred a loss of $100 million with several users experiencing their entire crypto investment gone. Reportedly, the infamous hacking group Lazarus from North Korea executed the attack. The notorious group allegedly stored the stolen crypto chests in the Cambodian crypto exchange Huione Pay.
The Estonia-based wallet firm tried to reestablish its good rapport and announced a $1 million bug bounty program to finesse its software’s overall security. Understandably, Atomic Wallet did it to save itself from facing such incidents in the future. But the community wasn’t really appeased with the firm’s efforts.
Within a month after the hack, victim investors paraded the platform through a lawsuit. They alleged that the wallet service provider had installed insufficient precautionary measures to safeguard their valuable assets. The lawsuit was filed in Colorado state by one of the affectees seeking compensation for their loss.
The class-action lawsuit was, however, dismissed by the state’s federal judge later on citing that it had no jurisdiction over the Estonian platform.
Brutal cyber threats looming over the crypto landscape
The crypto space has always been subjected to cyber attacks by unethical minds for financial gain since its inception. Last week, Chainalysis published a report on crypto hacks targeting Web3 wallet private keys and centralized exchanges. It revealed that the losses from these attacks increased to 21% year-over-year in 2024.
Published on Dec. 19, the report further divulges that the number of hacks in 2024 rose to 303 compared to the number 282 in 2023. It’s worth mentioning that the crypto industry has incurred a $2.2 billion loss over these exploits.
