Unocoin keeps deposits and withdrawals halted as it probes BitGo wallet transfers
In brief
- Unocoin deposits and withdrawals remain suspended amid an investigation into suspicious BitGo-linked wallet transfers.
- BitGo froze Unocoin's enterprise account on Nov. 6 at the exchange's request, Unocoin said.
- The transfers were signed and broadcast outside BitGo's platform, according to Unocoin.
- Unocoin suspects misuse of a wallet recovery feature but hasn't established whether it lost assets.
- Unocoin hasn't announced a date for restoring services.
What Unocoin says happened
On Friday, Unocoin said BitGo had frozen its enterprise account on Nov. 6 at the exchange's own request, and that the freeze worked as intended. That detail matters. According to Unocoin, the transactions under investigation were signed and broadcast outside BitGo's platform (not through it).
The exchange said BitGo's multisignature wallets include a recovery feature that lets wallet holders access funds if BitGo becomes unavailable. Unocoin suspects that feature was misused. It hasn't established how the transfers actually occurred, and it hasn't said whether it lost any digital assets.
BitGo didn't respond to Cointelegraph's request for more information before publication. Neither did Unocoin.
A week of escalating disclosures
Unocoin suspended all services on Monday after detecting further activity. On Thursday, it disclosed outgoing transactions from an Ethereum address in its BitGo wallet infrastructure and said its servers had been compromised.
Friday's statement points toward the recovery path. It's important to read that for what it is, though: it's Unocoin's suspicion, not a finding, and the exchange says it still doesn't know how the transfers happened.
No timeline for a restart
The exchange has not announced a date for restoring services.
For users with balances on the platform, that means deposits and withdrawals stay frozen while the investigation continues, with no restart date in sight.
A separate Nov. 5 warning from India's cybersecurity agency described an AI-assisted campaign targeting crypto exchanges and other financial firms. No connection between that warning and Unocoin's incident has been established.
Frequently asked questions
Why are Unocoin deposits and withdrawals suspended?
Unocoin kept deposits and withdrawals suspended while it investigates suspicious transfers from wallets linked to custodian BitGo. It suspended all services on Monday after detecting further activity and hasn't announced a date for restoring them.
What role does BitGo's wallet recovery feature play in the Unocoin incident?
Unocoin said BitGo's multisignature wallets include a recovery feature that lets holders access funds if BitGo becomes unavailable. Unocoin suspects the feature was misused but hasn't established how the transfers occurred. BitGo didn't respond to Cointelegraph's request for comment.
