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Binance confirms historic $5.7 billion crypto heist under investigation
Binance confirmed today it is investigating a suspected historic hack estimated at $5.7 billion in user funds, suspending withdrawals while
Key points
- Binance confirmed today it is investigating a suspected historic hack estimated at $5.7 billion in user funds.
- Co-founder Yi He stated user funds are safe and Binance will cover all hacking losses.
- Binance plans to resume withdrawals in approximately 45 hours after freezing about $3 billion of stolen assets.
Why it matters. This incident highlights the vulnerability of unregulated crypto exchanges to sophisticated attacks, potentially causing significant volatility for users holding assets on major platforms like Binance.
Binance confirmed today it is investigating a suspected historic hack estimated at $5.7 billion in user funds, suspending withdrawals while co-founder Yi He stated funds remain safe. The exchange attributes the breach to a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop that enabled unauthorized withdrawals, though they note additional breach points exist.
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Binance confirms historic $5.7 billion crypto heist under investigation
Binance co-founder Yi He announced on social media that the exchange is currently investigating what it believes to be the biggest crypto hack in history. The theft involves an estimated $5.7 billion in users' crypto funds taken from wallets on the platform. Consequently, prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana have dropped as much as 5% since the confirmation of the cyberattack. In response to the security breach, Binance has suspended deposits to protect remaining user assets while authorities and private partners coordinate to assess the breach and recover stolen funds.