Canadian crypto exchange Catalyx has halted withdrawals and suspended all trading activity on its platform following the discovery of a "security breach,” which it suspects may have involved one of its own employees.

"Management suspects that this security breach, which may involve an employee, has resulted in the loss of a portion of the crypto assets held by the Company on behalf of its clients," wrote Caltyx in a Dec. 28 statement. 

Catalyx did not disclose how much of its crypto assets had been lost to the breach. 

Due to the loss, all crypto and fiat currency withdrawals from the platform and all trading activities on the platform have been temporarily suspended.

On Dec. 21, the Alberta Securities Commission ordered the platform to cease all trading activity and launched an investigation into the exchange, in relation to the security breach. 

The crypto exchange added that it was investigating the losses and had engaged consulting firm Deloitte to help get to the bottom of the incident. 

The official Catalyx website currently features a warning banner, advising users that its platform is suffering "technical difficulties," and that it would alert users when regular functions had been restored.  

The Calgary-based exchange was founded in 2018 by now-CEO Jae Ho Lee. The exchange is registered with Canada's national financial intelligence agency FINTRAC.

Amid a wider bull market in May 2021, the exchange boasted $28 million in monthly trading volume, which marked a 73% increase month-over-month at the time, according to a June 21 statement. 

Current public data regarding its reserves or trading volume does not appear on any crypto data aggregators.

Source