Cryptocurrency platform Binance said it was working to resolve a “complex attack” involving approximately $6.3 billion in funds; of this figure, approximately half was blocked to prevent large-scale theft. The company – the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by daily trading volume – announced that the investigations had “revealed further points of violation”, denying initial analyzes that hypothesized the involvement of a single compromised laptop.
“This was a complex attack and we are doing everything we can, in coordination with law enforcement, to resolve the situation,” Binance wrote on X, adding that the team is working closely with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain analytics firms and industry partners to track and block additional assets. The company said that approximately $3 billion in assets involved have already been frozen.
Withdrawals suspended, resumption expected within 45 hours
Binance said it expects withdrawals to resume within 45 hours, after previously announcing a “temporary suspension” of all deposits and withdrawals. “Deposits were not affected,” the company said.
The initial hypothesis of the compromised laptop
The company also reported that preliminary investigations suggest the attack occurred via a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer; this would have allowed unauthorized individuals to access a “service container” and carry out illicit withdrawal operations. “We have not found any evidence of private keys leaking from wallets,” the company said, promising to release a detailed technical analysis once the investigation is concluded. Subsequently, however, he added that “further investigations revealed other points of violation”.