Gate exchange whale’s $1.7 million theft allegedly ties to a platform system vulnerability. The official response: “Even hackers have video recordings from Alipay,” suggesting the user’s device may have been compromised.

Cryptocurrency exchange Gate is embroiled in a controversy over the alleged theft of $1.7 million in user funds! In response to accusations of risk control failure from the affected user, Gate officially issued a lengthy statement today (9th) strongly refuting the claims, emphasizing that the system was not hacked. Instead, the hacker precisely possessed the user's Alipay transaction history videos and passed multi-factor verification, leading the exchange to conclude that the user's device was remotely controlled or their personal data was severely leaked. Gate has now urgently initiated asset tracking and sought assistance from Tether and other institutions to freeze the funds.

(Previous Report: UK FCA Publishes Final Crypto Regulation Framework: Mandatory oversight from October 2027, exchanges and staking providers must obtain licenses) (Background: US SEC Releases 2026 Regulatory Agenda: Plans to revise rules for crypto exchanges and brokers, relax corporate reporting)

Table of Contents

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• $1.7 Million Goes Missing, Both Sides Dispute
• Gate Shows Concrete Evidence: Hacker Even Has "Alipay History Video"
• Four Layers of Verification, Exchange Points to "User's Failure to React in Time"
• Urgent On-Chain Tracking Initiated, Contacting Tether to Freeze Funds

Cryptocurrency exchange Gate has recently been embroiled in a controversy involving the alleged theft of up to $1.7 million (approximately NT$55 million) in user funds, turning into a he-said-she-said situation. Facing strong accusations on social platform X, Gate officially released a detailed statement today (9th), completely denying any security vulnerabilities on the platform and attributing the cause to the user's terminal device being hacked or severe personal data leakage.

$1.7 Million Goes Missing, Both Sides Dispute

The incident began on July 8th when a user on X claiming to be a US stock trader, @jheioff, revealed that $1.7 million in assets stored on Gate (including nearly 50 ETH and over 1.56 million USDT) had vanished. The user insisted they never received any verification codes or performed facial recognition, yet their account had its email, phone, and Google Authenticator continuously reset between July 4th and 7th, and withdrawals were completed. They strongly questioned Gate's risk control mechanisms.

"I didn't check Gate for a few days, and today I was stunned, my scalp went cold. My Gate account was hacked and about $1.7 million in assets were drained. I have a verified real-name account with phone verification, Google Authenticator, and email verification set up. During this time, I received no SMS verification codes on my phone, and I never provided any videos, photos of my ID card, or login screen recordings to anyone. But my email shows that on July 4... pic.twitter.com/qrc2lusxHV"

— First Beautiful Girl (@jheioff) July 8, 2026

Gate Shows Concrete Evidence: Hacker Even Has "Alipay History Video"

Facing overwhelming doubts, Gate presented a different timeline and evidence in today's announcement. Gate emphasized that during the review process for unbinding security items, the applicant not only passed live facial recognition and dual-factor verification codes but also submitted a screen recording of Alipay transaction history that highly matched the account.

Gate officially stated: "Alipay has an extremely strict real-time risk control system. Logging in from a different device will forcibly require multiple identity verifications. This screen recording can only be recorded by the client themselves, or someone with access to that Alipay account." This became the key piece of evidence for the platform's judgment, indicating the hacker already had deep access to the user's real-name information and device permissions, far from a simple system intrusion.

"Regarding the Gate security item change application case and related fund losses, we will explain the latest developments to everyone in detail...

— Gate Chinese (@Gate_zh) July 9, 2026

Four Layers of Verification, Exchange Points to "User's Failure to React in Time"

To clarify responsibility, Gate reiterated in the statement that the platform's security unbinding review strictly follows a four-layer verification process: "multiple channel advance notice, system risk control initial screening, manual multi-level review, and time protection." The exchange stated that all modification operations have complete backend records for traceability, and that when the user applied for changes, the system immediately sent notifications via the original email and SMS, along with a two-day objection waiting period and a 24-hour withdrawal freeze.

Gate expressed regret that the user failed to contact the platform in time to intercept the changes during the three-day notification period. Meanwhile, the exchange strongly recommended that the affected user immediately conduct a comprehensive virus scan on their commonly used devices to eliminate potential remote control software.

Urgent On-Chain Tracking Initiated, Contacting Tether to Freeze Funds

Regarding the most concerning progress of fund recovery, Gate stated that since receiving the report, this case has been set as the highest priority. It has now coordinated internal security, compliance, and legal teams to conduct on-chain analysis, and is continuously liaising with third-party institutions such as stablecoin issuer Tether to attempt to intercept and freeze the stolen assets. Gate promised to fully cooperate with judicial authorities in investigations and data collection, hoping to get to the bottom of the matter soon.