(Kitco News) - Catalyx, a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2018, has halted all services following the detection of a security breach by the platform’s owner/operator, Calgary-based CataX CTS Ltd.
According to a press release from CataX CTS, the management of the company “discovered a security breach on the platform in connection with the holding of crypto assets on behalf of clients,” and “suspects that this security breach, which may involve an employee, has resulted in the loss of a portion of the crypto assets held by [Catalyx] on behalf of its clients.”
The exchange did not disclose how much of its crypto assets had been lost to the breach.
On Dec. 21, the exchange and its co-founder Jae Ho Lee were issued a cease trade order from the Alberta Securities Commission, and the regulator also announced the launch of an investigation into the matter.
CataX CTS is also conducting an investigation into the loss and has retained Deloitte “to provide certain forensic and investigative services to the company in connection with its investigation.”
“Due to the Loss, all crypto and fiat currency withdrawals from the Platform and all trading activities on the Platform have been temporarily suspended,” the release said. “The Company will provide an update to its customers upon the conclusion of Deloitte LLP's investigation.”
The homepage for the exchange now includes the following warning: “Please be advised we are experiencing technical difficulties. Our team is diligently working to resolve them as soon as possible. We will advise when all is back to normal. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
India blocks IP addresses for popular crypto exchanges
On Thursday, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced that it has issued compliance notices to nine foreign virtual digital asset service providers (VDA SPs) for allegedly operating illegally and violating Anti-Money Laundering regulations.
The list of crypto exchanges includes Binance, KuCoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global and Bitfinex.
“VDA SPs operating in India (both offshore and onshore) and engaged in activities like exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual digital assets, safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets, etc., are required to be registered with FIU IND as Reporting Entity and comply with the set of obligations as mandated under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002,” the FIU said. “The obligation is activity-based and is not contingent on physical presence in India. The regulation casts reporting, record keeping, and other obligations on the VDA SPs under the PML Act which also includes registration with the FIU IND.”
The FIU has asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the URLs for these companies in an effort to prevent their websites from being accessed by crypto traders in India.
