CertiK Reveals Itself as Kraken's $3 Million Exploiter Amid Controversy
Blockchain security firm CertiK has publicly identified itself as the "security researcher" involved in a contentious incident with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, in which $3 million worth of digital assets were reportedly extracted from Kraken accounts.
CertiK disclosed it had informed Kraken about an exploit that allowed the removal of millions of dollars from the exchange’s accounts. Kraken’s chief security officer, Nicholas Percoco, had previously accused an unnamed security team of “extortion” for withholding the return of the funds until Kraken agreed to a payment, purportedly linked to potential damages had the vulnerability not been disclosed.
CertiK responded by alleging that Kraken's security team threatened individual CertiK employees, demanding the repayment of a mismatched amount of cryptocurrency within an unreasonable time frame, and without providing repayment addresses. “In the spirit of transparency and our commitment to the Web3 community, we are going public to protect all users’ security. We urge [Kraken] to cease any threats against whitehat hackers,” CertiK stated.
The security firm provided a timeline of events, beginning with the identification of the exploit on June 5 and culminating in claims that Kraken threatened a CertiK employee on June 18.
The incident has sparked mixed reactions within the crypto community. While some users have expressed support for Kraken, arguing that CertiK's actions do not align with the typical behavior of white hat hackers, others have criticized Kraken's handling of the situation. The legal ramifications for Kraken remain uncertain at this stage.