The 2026 start-of-year storm can be called a thriller blockbuster in the crypto world.

In the early hours, hackers suddenly struck. An account suspected to belong to a major exchange was hacked, and the thief gained a large amount of funds. But the key point here is— the exchange’s risk control system immediately activated, freezing the withdrawal channels. As a result, the hackers couldn’t transfer the funds directly.

What to do? The hackers chose a more covert approach: cross-coin transfer. They did not target mainstream tokens but instead focused on less liquid small-cap coins like BROCCOLI714. These tokens have obvious characteristics—small market cap, fewer trading counterparts, limited market maker intervention. In such an environment, large buy orders can more easily push up the price and create false trading illusions.

The hackers疯狂扫盘 in the spot market. By making large purchases, they pushed up the price, then quietly transferred the funds to other accounts or channels. Throughout the process, the risk control system detected abnormal transactions, but faced with complex operations across different coins and accounts, it was difficult to quickly lock down the activity.

This scene kept the exchange’s risk control team awake all night— from detecting anomalies, tracking fund flows, to coordinating various departments to respond, they were racing against time. The final loss amounted to millions of dollars.

The lesson behind this incident is clear: even top-tier platforms’ risk control systems face multi-dimensional challenges. Hackers are no longer just stealing accounts and transferring funds; they exploit weak points in market structure—low liquidity and low regulatory oversight of small-cap coins—to evade risk controls. For exchanges, this means the need for deeper cross-coin monitoring and abnormal transaction detection capabilities. For users, it’s a wake-up call: behind the buying and selling of small-cap coins, there are hidden risks that are often unseen.