Binance $40 Million Hack
Binance was hacked and lost $42.8 million worth of BTC from their exchange’s hot wallet. People have been quick to bash them for this hack however in scales of magnitude it was minor in comparison to $400 million Coincheck exchange hack. Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO, did go to Twitter and actively speak with his customers and followers about the hack. He’s been forthright from the start. In the crypto space, it’s commonplace to lie about events and paint “rumors” as your “haters” trying to take you down.
The hackers were able to steal the BTC by gaining access to both user API keys and two-factor authentication codes to withdraw the crypto. I haven’t heard of any crypto exchange hacks caused by this way. In particular, using two-factor authentication codes because it seems like the hackers would need each users’ cell phone in order to pull off the attack-which did not occur. I suspect the hackers gained access to each users’ account API keys and then used the two-factor authentication codes to withdraw the BTC from each users’ account. This article by Olusola David O explains how API keys can be used to hack a crypto exchange from accounts whose trading is done primarily by bots.
It is imperative as a crypto trader or investor, that you keep the bulk of your crypto-assets outside exchanges. This hack will cause governmental regulators to introduce more regulation with the hopes of protecting the average consumers.
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