Crypto.com Pauses Withdrawals For 12 Hours Following Reports Of 'Suspicious Activity'

Crypto.com, a major cryptocurrency wallet and platform, temporarily paused withdrawals after a number of users reported "suspicious activity" on their accounts.

The hold lasted 12 hours and the platform asked users to reset their 2-factor authentication.

Crypto.com was in the news late last year after the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, was renamed Crypto.com Arena.

Dogecoin creator Billy Markus was one of those who noticed and tweeted about ‘odd’ activity on one of the Ethereum hot wallets on Crypto.com.

The digital exchange assured users that it is aware of the situation and the concerned department is already investigating the issues. "We have a small number of users reporting suspicious activity on their accounts. We will be pausing withdrawals shortly, as our team is investigating. All funds are safe," Crypto.com told users.

Despite this assurance, some users reported that their funds were stolen. Podcaster Ben Baller shared his experience on Twitter on Monday. "I messaged yah guys hours ago about my account having 4.28ETH stolen out of nowhere and I’m also wondering how they got passed the 2FA," he wrote.

Later, the exchange noted that some users had indeed experienced "unauthorized activity in their accounts," but said that "all funds are safe." It informed users that the team is enhancing security on all accounts, and requested them to sign back in and reset their 2FA.

"This update will be rolled out to users progressively over the next few hours. Once complete, withdrawals will be re-enabled. We understand this may be an inconvenience, but security comes first. Thank you for your support," the digital exchange said.

Crypto.com announced Tuesday morning that withdrawals were allowed again but it would take some time to clear the backlog. The crypto platform did not reveal the cause of the 'suspicious activity'.

This is not the first incident of suspicious activity in the crypto space. In August 2021, Poly Network was attacked by malicious actors who stole more than $600 million worth of funds. ImmuneFi reported earlier this month that the crypto sector lost $10 billion in DeFi hacks and losses in 2021.