Binance, a cryptocurrency platform was hacked late yesterday in a major security breach that that saw the firm lose $40.7m in BTC in a single transaction to unknown hackers.
“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,” said CEO Changpeng Zhao in a statement.
The hackers used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks. And though the firm is still concluding all possible methods used, it says there may also be additional affected accounts that have not been identified yet.
Binance says the hack impacted its BTC hot wallet only(which contained about 2% of our total BTC holdings) and all its other wallets are secure and unharmed.
Binance says it will use the #SAFU fund to cover this incident in full. No user funds will be affected.
The firm is also going to conduct a thorough security review of its systems and data and it estimates this will take about ONE WEEK therefore deposits and withdrawals will REMAIN SUSPENDED during this period of time but trading will continue as the firm monitor the situation closely.
Thanks for the support, really appreciate it. But currently no need. We will cover the loss from the #SAFU fund, there is enough. We are hurt, but not broke.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 8, 2019
We are working hard to resolve the issue, so that everyone can deposit and withdrawal again. Will take some time. https://t.co/0j4J0fk99W
