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anchored·4Skh21…bTPcSummary
Poloniex is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014 and acquired in 2019 by an investor group led by Tron founder Justin Sun. On November 10, 2023, the exchange suffered one of the largest hot wallet compromises in crypto history, with attackers draining approximately $126 million across Ethereum, TRON, and Bitcoin networks in an attack attributed by multiple blockchain security firms to North Korea's Lazarus Group. The exchange has also faced significant regulatory enforcement actions, including a $7.59 million OFAC sanctions settlement and a $10.4 million SEC settlement for operating an unregistered national securities exchange.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 5 more
Timeline(15 events)
2014
Poloniex founded by Tristan D'Agosta; exchange opens for trading.
March 2014
Poloniex suffers its first hack, losing approximately 12.3% of its Bitcoin holdings.
February 2018
Circle Internet Financial acquires Poloniex for approximately $400 million.
October 2019
Poloniex spins out from Circle as Polo Digital Assets, Ltd., backed by an Asian investor group including Justin Sun. U.S. customers notified of service termination.
12 November 2019
Justin Sun publicly confirms his investment in Poloniex via a live stream on Poloniex's official Twitter profile.
15 December 2019
Final deadline for U.S. users to withdraw funds from Poloniex.
9 August 2021
SEC charges Poloniex with operating an unregistered national securities exchange; Poloniex settles for $10,388,309.
May 2023
OFAC announces $7.59 million settlement with Poloniex for approximately 65,942 apparent sanctions violations involving users in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.
24 September 2023
Justin Sun's HTX exchange (formerly Huobi) suffers a $8 million hack.
10 November 2023
Poloniex hot wallets on Ethereum, TRON, and Bitcoin are compromised; approximately $126 million drained. Justin Sun pledges full reimbursement and offers a 5% bounty to the attackers.
14 November 2023
Hackers begin moving stolen funds; approximately 1,100 ETH sent to Tornado Cash mixer.
23 November 2023
HTX and Heco Chain suffer additional exploits totaling approximately $115 million, bringing total losses across Sun-affiliated platforms to over $240 million in roughly two months.
12 April 2024
Poloniex announces bulk asset delistings, signaling platform contraction.
23 August 2024
Further bulk asset delistings announced by Poloniex.
7 November 2024
Additional bulk delistings; platform continues to reduce listed assets.
Decision Log
- hash: CXuAU3sBfM4FsKuamXUq4wZQNhnnMmP73LEVdscmWFki
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 17 of 20 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:37 AM
last updated: 8/30/2026, 1:16:29 AM
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