Fact-check findings

The reviewer could not reconcile the claim with the evidence it cited. This is a lead, not a ruling that the claim is false.

1. #1[disputed][awaiting moderator]in section: Regulatory Issues

   “The base civil monetary penalty was calculated at approximately $98.8 million”

   reviewerThe base civil monetary penalty in the OFAC matter was about $98.8 millionOFAC's own release gives $99,237,000, not $98.8 million.
   Proposed correction (not yet applied)

   The base civil monetary penalty was calculated at approximately $99.2 million
   citedblog.volkovlaw.com/2023/05/cryptocurrenc…ions-violations/
2. #2[disputed][awaiting moderator]in section: Regulatory Issues

   “The SEC order noted that at the time of the settlement, 'Poloniex currently has no business operations and no employees,' a reference to the entity that held the exchange during the Circle ownership period.”

   reviewerThe 'no business operations and no employees' statement appears in the SEC orderThe quote is real but belongs to the OFAC release, not the SEC order. I did not read the full SEC order text; the PDF fetch returned only metadata.
   Proposed correction (not yet applied)

   OFAC's enforcement release noted that 'Poloniex currently has no business operations and no employees,' a reference to the entity that held the exchange during the Circle ownership period.
   citedwww.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021-147

No source the reviewer could reach confirms or contradicts the claim.

1. #6[unverifiable][awaiting moderator]in section: Background

   “The exchange was acquired by Circle Internet Financial in February 2018 for an estimated $400 million.”

   reviewerCircle acquired Poloniex in February 2018 for about $400 millionNot independently checked in this pass. The cited Bitget URL is recorded as unarchivable.
   citedwww.bitget.com/academy/12560603878185
2. #9[unverifiable][awaiting moderator]in section: On-Chain Evidence

   “Lazarus Group attribution for the Poloniex hack is alleged by multiple security researchers and firms based on on-chain behavioral patterns, but has not been formally confirmed by U.S. law enforcement or attributed in a government indictment as of the research date.”

   reviewerLazarus Group attribution is alleged by security firms and not government-confirmedThe hedging is appropriate, but I did not confirm that CertiK and Halborn themselves made the attribution. The cited Halborn and CertiK pages were not fetched.
   citedwww.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-…ck-november-2023
3. #10[unverifiable][awaiting moderator]in section: Risk Assessment

   “the second-largest crypto hack of that year”

   reviewerPoloniex is the second-largest crypto hack of 2023Ranking not checked. Other 2023 hacks (Mixin ~$200M, Euler ~$197M, Multichain ~$126M) suggest the ranking is contestable.
   citedsiliconangle.com/2023/11/10/justin-suns-…it-100m-exploit/

The cited evidence supports part of the claim but not all of it.

1. #3[partially supported][awaiting moderator]in section: Regulatory Issues

   “approximately 65,942 apparent sanctions violations spanning January 2014 through November 2019”

   reviewerOFAC violations spanned January 2014 through November 2019 with about $15 million in transactions in the named jurisdictionsThe wider period is the one OFAC gives for the platform, but the violations themselves are dated July 2015 to September 2019.
   citedwww.coindesk.com/policy/2023/05/01/crypt…iolation-charges
2. #7[partially supported][awaiting moderator]in section: Justin Sun Acquisition

   “an $85 million Heco Chain bridge exploit in November”

   reviewerFour Sun-affiliated hacks in 2023, including HTX $30M and $8M and a Heco bridge exploit of $85MThe article gives at least $86.6M for Heco, not $85M. This is close enough to count as a small imprecision. The page also describes the $126M Poloniex figure, which is later reporting than the article's $100M.
   citedcointelegraph.com/news/justin-sun-platfo…s-hacked-4-times

The cited evidence supports the claim as written.

1. #4[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Regulatory Issues

   “Without admitting or denying the findings, Poloniex agreed to pay total disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties of $10,388,309.”

   reviewerSEC settlement of $10,388,309 for operating an unregistered exchange, announced August 2021Amount, conduct period and Fair Fund match the SEC release.
   citedwww.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021-147
2. #5[confirmed][no action needed]in section: Regulatory Issues

   “In May 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $7.59 million settlement with Poloniex”

   reviewerOFAC settlement of $7.59 million for 65,942 apparent violations involving Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and SyriaMatches OFAC's release.
   citedwww.coindesk.com/policy/2023/05/01/crypt…iolation-charges
3. #8[confirmed][no action needed]in section: The $126M Hack

   “On November 10, 2023, beginning at approximately 10:30 AM UTC, unauthorized parties began draining funds from Poloniex hot wallets across multiple blockchains.”

   reviewerPoloniex hot wallets drained of about $126M on 10 Nov 2023 across Ethereum, TRON and BitcoinDate and headline loss are consistent with multiple outlets. The per-chain breakdown and the 317-contract detail were not independently checked.
   citeddecrypt.co/205465/justin-sun-owned-crypt…oniex-hacked-60m