$43 Million Gone: BingX Crypto Exchange Falls Victim To Major Hack

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As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience in this volatile yet exciting industry, I’ve seen my fair share of ups and downs, hacks, and breaches. The latest incident involving BingX is another grim reminder that no platform is completely immune to cyber attacks, especially centralized exchanges like BingX.

A significant cyber attack targeted Singapore-based Bitcoin exchange BingX, resulting in a loss of approximately $43 million from their hot wallets last Friday. This incident, attributed to unauthorized hacker activity, is one of the largest crypto attacks recorded this year and has sparked concerns about the security measures implemented by centralized exchanges.

BingX Hack: What Happened?

It was spotted by blockchain security firms Peck Shield and De.Fi that BingX’s hot wallet had some peculiar transactions, involving large fund transfers, around 4 AM in Singapore. The technical team at the exchange detected unusual access patterns which might indicate a potential attack.

Hey there, BingXOfficial! You might find it relevant to check this out – we’ve noticed an unusual large withdrawal ($13.6m+) to the following address:

— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) September 20, 2024

In response, BingX activated its emergency protocols, a measure that involved halting withdrawals for approximately 24 hours and transferring assets into secure offline storage (cold wallets).

Vivien Lin, BingX’s Chief Product Officer, mentioned that “the majority of funds remain secure in offline (cold) wallets,” despite experiencing minimal (meager) losses.

Approximately 4am on September 20th Singapore time, our technical staff noticed unusual network activity, which they suspected might be a cyber-attack targeting BingX’s hot wallet. In response, we swiftly activated our emergency protocol, taking steps such as transferring assets urgently and temporarily suspending withdrawals. Unfortunately, there was some asset loss in this incident, but…

— Vivien Lin @ BingX (@Vivien_BingX) September 20, 2024

Although several experts have provided differing estimates on the total amount of thefts, which casts doubt on this figure’s accuracy. Despite earlier predictions suggesting a loss of around $26 million, subsequent research suggests that hackers actually stole over $43 million worth of cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Tether (USDT).

User Payment And Reaction

Following the security incident, BingX assures customers who were impacted that they will be fully reimbursed using their own resources. The platform underscores its dedication to maintaining user safety and openness. They are currently developing a compensation scheme; Lin stated that they anticipate resuming withdrawal services soon after completing required security audits.

$43 Million Gone: BingX Crypto Exchange Falls Victim To Major Hack

Nevertheless, this comforting statement didn’t sit well with cryptocurrency communities who questioned the exchange’s initial explanation of the incident. In the beginning, the exchange termed it as “wallet maintenance,” a description that left users puzzled and enraged since they felt deceived about the severity of the hack due to what they perceived as misleading information.

Advocates are urging centralized platforms like BingX to increase their openness, to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future.

Increasing Exchange Hacking Trend

As an analyst, I’ve noticed a concerning pattern emerging in the crypto world: malicious actors are increasingly targeting centralized exchanges like BingX. Just last week, Indodax, an exchange based in Indonesia, experienced a similar breach, resulting in a loss of approximately $22 million. This underscores the importance of robust security measures to protect both users and assets in this dynamic digital economy.

Last year, under similar circumstances, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, suffered a loss exceeding $230 million. These attacks are said to be linked with the Lazarus Group, a cybersecurity threat group known for their sophisticated hacking techniques from North Korea.

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2024-09-21 01:12