OKX has temporarily halted its Web3 decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator following discussions with European regulators. The decision, announced on March 17, is part of efforts to enhance security measures and prevent platform misuse.
The suspension coincides with an investigation by European authorities into allegations that hackers linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group used OKX Web3 to launder funds stolen in the recent Bybit hack. A recent Bloomberg report indicated that regulators from all 27 European Union nations discussed this issue during a European Securities and Markets Authority meeting on March 6. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed that the hackers used OKX Web3 to launder about $100 million of the stolen $1.5 billion. In response, EU regulators are now evaluating whether the platform falls under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework and considering possible penalties for OKX.
OKX claims its involvement in the laundering process was due to incorrect labeling by blockchain explorers and other decentralized exchanges. The exchange is actively collaborating with these explorers to ensure accurate transaction reporting and prevent misidentification of its aggregator as the point of trade. OKX emphasized the importance of transparency and is working closely with blockchain explorers to correct incomplete labeling, aiming to ensure that explorers accurately identify the actual DEX processing trades rather than mistakenly pointing to its aggregator.
Additionally, OKX reiterated that its aggregator does not hold user assets but provides access to liquidity across multiple decentralized protocols. To further enhance security, the platform has introduced a system to detect hacker addresses in real time and block them from accessing its centralized exchange. OKX CEO Star Xu mentioned on X: “We already rolled out a lot of controls for OKX Web3 to fight misuse, including prohibited markets’ IP blocking and a real-time black address detection and blocking system.”
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