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Kronos Research

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[AI-DRAFTED · AWAITING VERIFICATION][src:defillama]
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Summary

Kronos Research is a Taipei-based cryptocurrency quantitative trading firm and market maker founded in 2018 by Mark Pimentel and Jack Tan. The firm experienced two serious security incidents within months of each other in 2023: an insider sabotage case in which two disgruntled engineers tampered with trading code causing $1.4 million in losses, and an external hack in November 2023 where compromised API keys led to the theft of approximately $25–26 million. The November hack cascaded onto WOO X, an exchange Kronos incubated and served as primary liquidity provider, causing a temporary trading halt and liquidations for 227 users.

Connected Entities

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□Kronos Research
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    Timeline(9 events)

    2018-06-01

    Kronos Research founded in Taipei, Taiwan by Mark Pimentel and Jack Tan.

    2019-01-01

    Kronos Research incubates WOO Network (later WOO X) and becomes its primary backstop liquidity provider.

    2023-08-27

    Two disgruntled former engineers convicted in Taipei court for tampering with Kronos Research trading algorithms over unpaid bonuses, causing $1.4 million in losses.

    2023-11-18

    Unauthorized party accesses Kronos Research exchange API keys and begins draining approximately $25–26 million across multiple exchanges. WOO X halts all trading at approximately 21:00 UTC due to liquidity shortage.

    2023-11-19

    Kronos Research publicly discloses the API key hack via X. Firm states losses will be covered internally with no partners affected. WOO X fully restores operations within approximately 11 hours.

    2023-11-21

    WOO X publishes transparency report detailing 227 user liquidations during the liquidity gap and confirms full user compensation.

    2023-11-28

    Kronos Research publicly offers hacker a 10% bounty (approximately $2.5 million) to return 90% of stolen funds, with a deadline of November 30, 2023 08:00 UTC and threat of legal action.

    2023-11-30

    Kronos Research bounty deadline passes with no return of funds reported.

    2024-05-01

    Hacker begins laundering stolen funds through Tornado Cash, moving approximately $4 million in 10 batches of 100 ETH.

    Provenance & Audit Trail
    Anchored on SolanaVerify on-chainsrc:defillama

    Decision Log

    This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.

    full audit log →version history →

    model: claude-sonnet-4-6

    generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:37 AM

    last updated: 5/20/2026, 3:41:07 PM

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