Binance says $6.3B affected in possible exchange hack

$6.3 billion in assets were affected by a security incident at Binance, the exchange said Friday, making it one of the largest reported crypto thefts. The figure is an estimated impact, and Binance says it will cover losses for users.

In a Binance security update, the exchange said its preliminary investigation points to a DevOps engineer’s compromised laptop. The attacker may have used access to a service container to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.

Binance said it found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked. It has not yet published a technical post-mortem, saying it will do so after the investigation is complete and facts are verified.

How much of the affected crypto has been frozen?

Binance said about $3 billion of affected assets had been frozen on-chain with help from blockchain partners. That is roughly half of the estimated $6.3 billion impact, though the exchange has not said how much of the remainder can be recovered.

The Associated Press reported that stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle also froze funds connected to the incident. Tether said it froze more than $1.5 billion in currency, while Circle reported freezing more than $800 million in coordination with law enforcement, according to AP’s account of the incident.

Those amounts should not be added to Binance’s on-chain figure without more detail: the companies have not said whether their freezes overlap with the assets Binance counted. The exchange says it is working with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to track and recover funds.

Will Binance users have to absorb the losses?

Binance says no: it will cover all losses with its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, and company funds. The exchange said user funds are safe, but it has not yet detailed the final loss amount or how any reimbursements will work.

As a precaution, Binance temporarily suspended withdrawals while it completes a security review and revoked authorization for affected addresses. Its Friday update clarified that deposits were not affected and continue to operate as usual.

Binance also said it plans to publish an updated proof of reserves after remediation. Proof of reserves is an exchange’s report of assets held against customer balances; Binance did not give a date for the update.

What is still unknown about the incident?

The identity of the attacker and the exact amount ultimately lost remain unconfirmed by Binance. The exchange said it is working with law enforcement to identify those responsible, and promised further technical details after verification.

For now, you can distinguish the confirmed response from the still developing investigation: Binance has reported an estimated $6.3 billion impact, about $3 billion frozen, withdrawals paused, and a commitment to cover losses. The company has not yet confirmed a final tally or published evidence identifying the attacker.

Sources

• Binance security update — binance.com
• AP’s account of the incident — apnews.com