Some pretty bad news struck Changpeng Zhao’s crypto exchange a few days ago. Leading crypto exchange Binance says hackers have stolen 7,000 Bitcoin.
“We have discovered a large scale security breach today, May 7, 2019, at 17:15:24 (UTC). Hackers were able to obtain a large number of user API keys, 2FA codes, and potentially other info. The hackers used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks. We are still concluding all possible methods used. There may also be additional affected accounts that have not been identified yet.”
According to the exchange, the stolen Bitcoin has been removed in a single transaction from the BTC hot wallet. All the other wallets are secure, according to the exchange.
Official notes say that “The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time. The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security checks. It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed. Once executed, the withdrawal triggered various alarms in our system. We stopped all withdrawals immediately after that.”
Binance Security Breach Updatehttps://t.co/KY2J3jWpmn pic.twitter.com/JZtMsbI9fS
— Binance (@binance) May 7, 2019
SAFU will cover all the losses
The crypto exchange also made sure to say that it will use its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to cover any losses and reimburse customers. Right now, users can still log in and trade, although deposits and withdrawals are disabled.
“We must conduct a thorough security review. The security review will include all parts of our systems and data, which is large. We estimate this will take about one week. We will post updates frequently as we progress.
Bitcoin hits a six-month high
Bitcoin managed to surge above $6,000 for the very first time in about six months.
The most valuable digital asset in the market is currently priced at $6,083.47, and it’s trading in the green on CoinMarketCap.
