Hackers stole over 40 million dollars in bitcoins from one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said the theft of 7,000 bitcoins occurred in a single transaction after hackers used “a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks.’’
“The hackers had the patience to wait and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time,’’ he said.
“The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security checks.’’
Zhao said the security breach only impacted its hot wallet, the location of 2 per cent of Binance holdings.
Deposits and withdrawals, however, have been suspended.
In 2018, hackers stole almost one billion dollars in cryptocurrencies worldwide, according to U.S. security firm CiptherTrace. (dpa/NAN)
