Zilliqa said Monday that an unspecified amount of ZIL was stolen from the cold wallet of one of its exchange partners, triggering a temporary halt to deposits and withdrawals on some platforms as the project investigates the incident.

Incident disclosed by Zilliqa

In a statement posted on X, Zilliqa said it had been informed of a security incident affecting an exchange partner and that ZIL had been taken from a cold wallet. The project did not identify the partner involved, disclose how many tokens were stolen, or explain how the funds were accessed or moved.

The team said its investigation was still ongoing. Based on Zilliqa’s account, the apparent impact was tied to the funds held in that particular wallet rather than to a wider issue affecting the network itself.

Exchange response

Following the disclosure, exchanges began restricting ZIL transfers in an effort to stop the stolen funds from being moved through centralized trading venues. Coinone and KuCoin both suspended ZIL deposits and withdrawals.

Coinone kept spot trading open while pausing deposits and withdrawals until the situation is confirmed to be stable. KuCoin also halted ZIL deposits and withdrawals, describing the move as maintenance.

Zilliqa said the pauses were intended to reduce the risk of any stolen tokens being transferred or sold through centralized platforms while the review continues.

Market move on the day

The incident coincided with a sharp move lower in ZIL. On Monday, the token fell to an all-time low of about $0.002441. It was also cited as trading near $0.002610, leaving it down roughly 99% from its May 2021 peak of $0.2563.

The source article did not attribute the price drop solely to the theft, but noted that the market move happened on the same day that the wallet incident became public.

What remains unclear

Several key details had not been disclosed at the time of publication. Zilliqa had not named the exchange partner, estimated the value of the stolen tokens, or said whether the funds had already been traced. It also had not provided a timeline for when normal transfers might resume.

Cold wallets are typically used to keep assets offline as a safeguard against online attacks, making the reported theft notable even though Zilliqa indicated the implications appear limited to that wallet.

The theft comes amid what the source described as a period of notable crypto security breaches in 2026. For now, the main confirmed facts are that ZIL was stolen from an exchange partner’s cold wallet, some exchanges froze transfers, and Zilliqa’s investigation is still in progress.

Source: Cryptopolitan