Binance Halts $5 Million in Funds Linked to Turkish Exchange’s $54 Million Cyberattack
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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has taken action to halt funds linked to a major cyberattack on Turkish exchange BtcTurk.
The attack targeted ten of BtcTurk’s hot wallets after reports of suspicious transfers involving Avalanche tokens emerged on Saturday.
In a blog post, BtcTurk assured users that its cold wallets, which hold the majority of its assets, remain secure, and the company remains financially stable.
Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, confirmed that his company is assisting BtcTurk in investigating the incident.
As part of their efforts, Binance has frozen over $5.3 million in stolen funds, effectively preventing further unauthorized transfers.
“Our investigations & security teams work around the clock as part of our proactive efforts to protect the ecosystem from bad actors. We will provide further updates as relevant,” Teng wrote on X.
Binance is assisting BtcTurk with investigations and have frozen over $5.3M in stolen funds so far.
Our investigations & security teams work around the clock as part of our proactive efforts to protect the ecosystem from bad actors. We will provide further updates as relevant. https://t.co/8j6uMgOPm6
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) June 22, 2024
$54M Worth of Avalanche Connected to Cyberattacks
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT conducted a timing analysis and concluded that approximately $54 million worth of Avalanche tokens were likely connected to the cyberattack.
The funds were transferred to various exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase, using the THORChain protocol.
Subsequently, the stolen funds were converted into Bitcoin and moved to two separate wallets. These large transactions coincided with the public disclosure of the attack by BtcTurk.
Adding weight to the connection between BtcTurk and the Avalanche transfers, a blockchain researcher had previously identified the relevant Avalanche wallet as belonging to a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange.
Just shared on Telegram that this entity withdrew $46M+ worth of BTC from Coinbase/Binance after those AVAX depositshttps://t.co/aONZbESvre
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 22, 2024
ZachXBT also raised suspicions about a potential hack targeting online casino Sportsbet.
According to the investigator, the same threat actor behind the BtcTurk attack may have stolen over $3.5 million from Sportsbet, with funds from both incidents possibly being combined.
However, Sportsbet has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Following the cyberattack and the subsequent transfers, the price of Avalanche experienced a temporary decline of approximately 10%.
However, the token has since recovered about 5% of its value from its lowest point on Saturday.
Crypto Scams See a Surge
Cryptocurrency scams have thrived on X, with analysts attributing a significant portion of all crypto scams to scammers on the platform.
Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam company present on X, conducted an analysis revealing that nearly $50 million is lost each month due to account impersonation on X.com.
While these problems existed prior to Elon Musk’s involvement in the platform, the confusion surrounding the new owner’s controversial paid verification service may contribute to the continued vulnerability of the general public to impersonation scams.
The service allows anyone with a smartphone to register and receive verification, potentially adding to the challenges faced in distinguishing genuine accounts from fraudulent ones.
Just recently, Binance co-founder Yi He raised concerns about the proliferation of cryptocurrency scams on X, questioning whether Musk would take action to tackle the issue.
Likewise, Rapper 50 Cent, known as Curtis Jackson, has fallen victim to a hacking incident with his X account being used to promote a fraudulent meme coin based on the Solana blockchain.
The hacker took advantage of the ongoing trend of celebrities launching their own meme coins, leading many to believe that 50 Cent was genuinely endorsing a new Solana token called GUNIT, launched through Pump.fun.
