OKX Halts DEX Aggregator Amid Security Concerns and Regulatory Scrutiny

OKX temporarily suspended its decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator on Sunday, citing security concerns and recent attacks. The exchange reported a coordinated effort by the Lazarus Group to misuse its DeFi services, alongside competitive attacks. This decision follows scrutiny over OKX's alleged role in laundering $100 million from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in January, attributed to Lazarus Group. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou noted that 40,233 ETH from the hack flowed through OKX's Web3 platform. Bloomberg reported on March 11 that EU regulators are investigating OKX's DeFi platform for MiCA compliance, a claim OKX denies. Last month, OKX's affiliate, Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd, agreed to pay over $500 million in penalties for operating without a money transmitter license and failing to follow anti-money laundering laws, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). OKX stated it consulted with regulators and implemented measures to prevent misuse of its services.