Crypto alternate OKX has quickly suspended its decentralized alternate (DEX) aggregator in response to considerations over its alleged misuse by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus.
The transfer comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny from European authorities investigating the platform’s function in laundering funds from a serious crypto heist.
In a statement on March 17, OKX confirmed that it had detected a coordinated effort by Lazarus Group to use its DeFi providers.
“After consulting with regulators, we made the proactive determination to quickly droop our DEX aggregator providers. This transfer permits us to implement extra upgrades to forestall additional misuse,” the corporate mentioned.
OKX Maintains Pockets Companies Regardless of DEX Suspension
Whereas OKX has not offered a particular timeline for reinstating the service, the alternate’s helpdesk assured customers that crypto pockets functionalities would stay energetic.
Nevertheless, it famous that new pockets creation could be paused in choose markets through the suspension interval.
On March 11, Bloomberg reported that European financial regulators were investigating OKX’s DEX aggregator, OKX Web3, over allegations that it facilitated cash laundering linked to the Bybit hack.
The assault, which resulted in $1.5 billion in stolen funds, allegedly noticed practically $100 million laundered by OKX’s Web3 proxy, in line with Bybit CEO Ben Zhou.
In response, OKX dismissed the accusations as deceptive, emphasizing its proactive strategy to countering monetary crime.
“Over the previous few days, we’ve confronted focused media assaults questioning our integrity and operations,” the corporate said in a weblog put up.
“We will’t ignore the truth that these assaults are occurring at a time once we are actively preventing in opposition to monetary crime.”
OKX clarified that when Bybit was hacked, it took instant motion by freezing associated funds getting into its centralized alternate (CEX) and creating new safety measures to forestall related incidents.
The agency additionally criticized media stories for inaccurately figuring out its DEX aggregator because the origin of illicit trades moderately than merely a liquidity entry level.
Enhanced Safety Measures to Fight Misuse
To handle regulatory considerations and strengthen its defenses, OKX has rolled out enhanced safety protocols.
These embody a hacker handle detection system to trace and block malicious addresses in real-time on its CEX and a system to make sure that blockchain explorers appropriately establish the precise DEX processing transactions.
“We already rolled out quite a lot of controls for OKX Web3 to fight misuse, together with prohibited market IP blocking and real-time black handle detection,” mentioned OKX CEO Star Xu on March 17.
OKX additionally reaffirmed that its Web3 DEX aggregator doesn't act as a custodian of person property.
As a substitute, its major perform is to supply entry to liquidity throughout a number of protocols.
“Some have intentionally misrepresented our platform,” the corporate said, defending its function within the DeFi area.
As reported, Chainflip, a cross-chain DEX, is making ready a protocol improve geared toward stopping hackers answerable for the current $1.4 billion Bybit hack from utilizing its platform to launder stolen property.
The upcoming 1.7.10 improve introduces enhanced screening instruments that permit dealer operators—together with platforms like SwapKit and the Rango DEX aggregator—to reject suspicious deposits of ETH and ERC-20 tokens.
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