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FTX CEO John Ray Confirms Late-Night Hack, Says Company Is Working With Law Enforcement

Ray said FTX and FTX US are making “every effort to secure all assets, wherever located.”

FTX's new CEO confirmed that the exchange and its American subsidiary were hacked. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
FTX's new CEO confirmed that the exchange and its American subsidiary were hacked. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Crypto exchange FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, took to Twitter Saturday to confirm that FTX, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday and its U.S. subsidiary, FTX US, were hacked last night in an attack that drained hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto out of the exchanges’ wallets.

In a statement issued via Ryne Miller, FTX’s general counsel, on Twitter, Ray said FTX US and FTX.com “continue to make every effort to secure all assets, wherever located.”

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Read more: ‘FTX Has Been Hacked’: Crypto Disaster Worsens as Exchange Sees Mysterious Outflows Exceeding $600M

After the hack began around 10 p.m. EST on Friday night, wallets appearing to belong to FTX began moving assets, which Miller said was the exchange taking “precautionary steps…to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorized transactions.”

Ray confirmed Miller’s statement, adding that FTX is “in the process of removing trading and withdrawal functionality and moving as many digital assets as can be identified to a new cold wallet custodian.”

According to Ray, the company’s executives have been “in contact with, and are coordinating with law enforcement and relevant regulators” following the hack.

Cheyenne Ligon

On the news team at CoinDesk, Cheyenne focuses on crypto regulation and crime. Cheyenne is originally from Houston, Texas. She studied political science at Tulane University in Louisiana. In December 2021, she graduated from CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she focused on business and economics reporting. She has no significant crypto holdings.

Cheyenne Ligon