Crypto exchange Binance has reported a security incident, with preliminary losses estimated at approximately $6.3 billion. The company has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals, pledged to compensate affected users and launched an investigation.
The first reports of a possible hack emerged on Oct. 29. Around $3.5 billion was transferred to an unknown crypto wallet. Some experts suggested that the volume of suspicious transactions could be even higher.
Amid reports of a hack, cryptocurrency issuers began freezing assets potentially linked to the incident.
What we know about the Binance hack
According to Binance’s preliminary assessment, the incident may have involved a breach of a DevOps engineer’s laptop. The attacker is believed to have accessed a service container and initiated unauthorized fund withdrawals.
At the same time, the company said it had not yet found any evidence of crypto wallet private key leaks. Binance pledged to publish a detailed technical report once the investigation is complete.
Binance has preliminarily estimated the total damage at approximately $6.3 billion, around $3 billion of which was successfully frozen on the blockchain in cooperation with its partners.
How Binance plans to compensate for losses
The exchange pledged to fully reimburse users for their losses using its SAFU protection fund and corporate funds. Binance also assured users that their assets were safe.
The company also revoked authorization for the affected address and enlisted law enforcement and blockchain experts to help track down and recover the stolen funds.
Following reports of the hack, the broader cryptocurrency market experienced a notable decline.
