M2 Exchange
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 38 → 53. Problems weighed by who is responsible: concerns that are not fraud −9.6, incidents the subject suffered −3.2, problems around the subject, caused by others −0.8; legitimacy credit long-running +2. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -9.6 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -3.2 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -0.8 |
| Long-running | +2 |
| Sum | 53 |
Score: 53/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
M2 Exchange is an Abu Dhabi-based centralized cryptocurrency exchange licensed by the ADGM FSRA that suffered a $13.7 million hot wallet breach on October 31, 2024, attributed to an access control vulnerability spanning Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The exchange claims to have covered all customer losses from company reserves within hours of the incident, though the lack of a public post-mortem and two CEO transitions within eighteen months raise unresolved transparency questions.
Connected Entities
6 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- Bitstamp→mentioned with→Bitcoin(75%)
- M2 Exchange→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- M2 Exchange→mentioned with→Kraken(60%)
- M2 Exchange→mentioned with→Solana(70%)
- M2 Exchange→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- M2 Exchange→mentioned with→Bitstamp(65%)
- Kraken→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- Solana→mentioned with→Ethereum(60%)
Timeline(8 events)
16 August 2023
ADGM FSRA grants M2 Limited and M2 Custody Limited Financial Services Permission to operate an MTF and custody service in Abu Dhabi.
October 2023
M2 Exchange publicly launches retail and institutional services, initially offering BTC and ETH trading with AED fiat pairs.
15 October 2024
Stefan Kimmel steps down as CEO and moves to the M2 Board of Directors; Saadeddine Zaher appointed CEO.
31 October 2024
Attacker exploits hot wallet access control vulnerability at approximately 3:16 AM, draining ~$13.7M across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana chains.
31 October 2024
M2 claims the breach was contained within 16 minutes; exchange covers all customer losses from company reserves and states services are restored.
November 2024
M2 issues public statement confirming the incident, stating cooperation with UAE legal and regulatory authorities and implementing enhanced security controls.
4 November 2024
On-chain analysts confirm approximately $10 million in ETH remains unmixed in the attacker's consolidation wallet; no attacker identified.
2025
James Greenwood, former CTOO of Bitstamp, named CEO of M2, marking a second CEO transition within the platform's first fifteen months.
Decision Log
- slot 455364455 · hash FAaJ6xHMxFQPF2XZjwBHDGgzkeEn5c1oPjZD6gLacKnV
- slot 420910772 · hash 44ZcJojr3oLvdZcUjvkG34ZcQyouM9Mpw8PWdr7QuVCh
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (2 decisions). 10 of 13 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:27 AM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:44:44 PM
5 viewsavoid.net — verified advice for a post-truth world