MapleChange Supposedly Hacked, Owner Disappears (With Multiple Traces)

Shortly after the hack, the MapleChange team took to Twitter to make a formal announcement regarding the hack, whilst immediately stating they cannot make any refunds until their investigations are complete. The hack comes just days after the exchange achieved its highest ever daily trade volume of over 9.8 BTC on October 22. Almost immediately following the hack and its announcement on Twitter, almost all MapleChange public accounts were closed down or deleted, including its Twitter, Discord, and Bitcointalk service announcement. Prior to being supposedly compromised, the exchange website previously boasted ‘security’ and ‘transparency’ as two of its defining features. Shortly after the hack, the website was taken offline and cannot be reached via Google cache. As of writing, the MapleChange Telegram channel is still active, with its last announcement being posted in the early hours of the morning. According to the last Telegram channel update, the exchange had just undergone a somewhat extensive upgrade, adding and changing over a dozen features. All changes listed in the update relate to the user interface and are unlikely to have increased its vulnerability to hacking.

Suspicious Movements

Interestingly, there was a gradual decrease in exchange volume in the week prior to the alleged hack, gradually falling from a peak of $67,183 exchanged on October 21 down to just $5,138 just days later on October 27. Unsurprisingly, Twitter users have been riled up by the news, with the majority of users venting their disbelief — instead suspecting that the alleged hack is, in fact, a disguised exit scam, demanding the owner repay all those that lost money due to the hack.

How did the hackers have access to the cold wallets?

— Dereek69 (@Dereek70) October 28, 2018

A band of crypto enthusiasts has since begun to take it a step further, attempting to track down the owner of the exchange. A new Twitter account, mockingly named Maplechanged, was created to coordinate the efforts and, as of writing, those involved have managed to uncover an impressive amount of information. According to the Maplechanged Twitter, they have managed to identify the exchange owner, narrowed down his home address and even found his dating profile on PlentyOfFish. It also appears that others are looking to cash on in the ‘hack’, likely looking to dupe MapleChange users out of more money or their personal information. One such attempt is @Maple_Exchange, an account claiming to be held by the MapleChange co-founder, offering refunds to affected users. What do you think? Was MapleChange hacked, or is it an exit scam? Have you ever lost any money due to an exchange hack? Let us know in the comments below!