Brazilian Crypto Investment Platform Bluebenx Backpedals on Hack Reports, States It Was Victim of a Listing Scam

Bluebenx, a Brazilian crypto company that recently stopped customer withdrawals, has changed its story regarding the causes which took it to take that measure. While the exchange issued an email statement informing customers it had been the victim of a vicious hack, now the company states the liquidity problems were the consequence of a listing scam.

Bluebenx Switches Versions Regarding Liquidity Issues

Brazilian crypto investment company Bluebenx changed the version on the recent liquidity issues it is facing, having stopped the withdrawals for some customers last week. The first explanation of this resolution included allegations of the exchange being the victim of an “extremely aggressive hack,” with the operations halt being part of the security protocol to handle the aftermath of the event.

However, now it has backpedaled on this explanation, offering a very different take on the issue. Bluebenx explained that the incident was the consequence of a listing scam, in which the company had agreed to pay for listing its own currency, BENX, on another platform. According to a note sent by the company to Livecoins, a local source, Bluebenx had to pay $200,000 and 25 million Benx for this listing opportunity to a third party acquainted with the unnamed listing exchange.

However, the alleged representative scammed and deprived the company of these funds. Also, the attacker took the 25 million BENX paid and exchanged it for USDT using the liquidity pools of the exchange, depriving it of all of its stablecoin liquidity.

The company stated:

BlueBenx also clarifies that among its more than 25,000 customers, only 2,500 were affected by the blow. The recovery plan provides that these customers will be able to redeem their applications from 2023 onwards.

The company did not explain the reasons for this change in its explanation.

Massive Layoffs Explanation

The company also gave an explanation for the layoffs that it executed on the same day that this incident happen, which caused some customers to believe they were being victims part of a Ponzi scheme scam. The company explained:

Bluebenx took unpopular measures and, in order to ensure safety and guarantees for our investors, fired part of the employees and suppliers with privileged access, as a way of limiting access to the accounts.

While the company did not specify the number of employees that were fired, it did report that, for the time being, only 11 people remained on the company’s payroll, and that it had abandoned its headquarters and other assets to “comply with its legal and contractual obligations with its customers.”