A white hat hacker named “Tree of Alpha” recently contacted Coinbase and reported a major flaw in the platform to the authorities. cryptocurrency prevented a possible attack that could make a sound in the world.
Well-Intentioned Hacker May Have Saved Coinbase
The hacker in question recently tried to reach Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong on Twitter and announced that he had discovered a vulnerability in the trading platform.
It is said that if the vulnerability is noticed by malicious people, all order books in the crypto money exchange can be converted to the prices that hackers want.
A few hours after the hacker’s tweet, Coinbase announced that trading on the cryptocurrency platform was halted for technical reasons.
After the issue was resolved, the hacker named Tree of Alpha thanked the Coinbase team for their quick response, while CEO Armstrong said he was grateful for the hacker’s help.
.@Tree_of_Alpha you’re awesome – a big thank you for working with our team
love how the crypto community helps each other out!
— Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) February 11, 2022
The vulnerability was in the Coinbase Advanced Trading Platform, which is currently under testing.
According to Hacker’s statement, the vulnerability on the platform “could have allowed malicious people to pull all Coinbas order books at any price.”
Malicious people could have taken advantage of this vulnerability, causing great damage to the cryptocurrency market.
Authorities Are Not Late to Respond to Hacker’s Warning
Coinbase immediately responded to the hacker’s warnings, and all trading on the platform was halted within two hours of Tree of Alpha’s tweet.
Two hours after the trading was stopped, the cryptocurrency exchange continued to operate at full capacity again and users were allowed to trade.
Tree of Alpha has confirmed that the vulnerability has been closed, along with the screenshot it published.
Advanced Trading is resumed, and I have verified that the exploit has been patched as recommended.
Full thread on the vuln and how Coinbase’s swift response avoided some serious company & market damage as soon as I’m allowed (hopefully next week).
Good weekend to all. pic.twitter.com/pguInKORwW
— Tree of Alpha (@Tree_of_Alpha) February 12, 2022
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong thanked the hacker for helping the cryptocurrency exchange team and said he “loved the whole crypto community helping each other out.”