"Meltdown Being Tracked Real-Time": Elon Musk On Reports About Crypto Exchange FTX Hacking

The Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced that it has been hacked and advised users not to install any future updates and to remove all FTX apps, according to a report by Coindesk.

According to the report, more than $600 million in cryptocurrency reportedly fled the wallets of bankrupt FTX late on Friday, after which the company claimed that it had been hacked.

"FTX has been hacked. FTX apps are malware. Delete them. Chat is open. Don't go on FTX site as it might download Trojans," wrote an account administrator in the FTX Support Telegram chat. The message was pinned by FTX General Counsel Ryne Miller.

Mr Miller tweeted that he was "investigating abnormalities with wallet movements related to consolidation of FTX balances across exchanges."

In another tweet Mr Miller wrote: "following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings - FTX US and FTX [dot] com initiated precautionary steps to move all digital assets to cold storage. Process was expedited this evening - to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorized transactions."

The transfers, which have not been addressed officially by FTX leadership, came on the same day that the firm officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after apparently losing billions of dollars in user funds, reported Coindesk.

Elon Musk has also commented on the FTX downfall and hacking incident. He has written on his personal Twitter account that the FTX meltdown and ransack are being tracked in real-time on Twitter.

Meanwhile, regulators froze some assets of distressed cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its industry peers raced to limit losses on Friday amid worsening solvency problems at the firm and heightened scrutiny of its chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The week-long saga that began with a run on FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges, and a failed takeover deal by arch-rival Binance has thumped an already struggling bitcoin and other tokens.

FTX is scrambling to raise about $9.4 billion from investors and rivals, a source said on Thursday, as the exchange urgently seeks to save itself after a rush of customer withdrawals.

Bitcoin tumbled 4 percent to $16,858 on Friday, with losses totaling 17 percent this month. FTX's token, FTT, was down 27 percent at $2.7, with 89% losses for the month.

Trading volumes in bitcoin futures and exchange-traded funds have exploded.