Circle, Strategy and other crypto-linked stocks fell sharply Friday, a day after Binance disclosed a $6.3 billion security breach. Shares of publicly traded cryptocurrency companies fell sharply Friday, with Coinbase dropping more than 13% a day after reporting a decline in third-quarter revenue, as the industry dealt with Binance’s $6.3 billion hack. Other crypto-linked stocks also declined, with stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group (CRCL) falling more than 9% and Bitcoin treasury company Strategy (MSTR) dropping about 8%, according to Yahoo Finance data at the time of writing. Source: Yahoo Finance
Binance is working with law enforcement to recover $3 billion that is frozen, after setting aside more than $6.3 billion from the company’s funds to cover the shortfall. Binance is working with the FBI to help recover some of the funds stolen in the record $6.3 billion exploit, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Cointelegraph contacted the FBI for more details about the collaboration but had not received a response by the time of publication. The cryptocurrency exchange revealed its cooperation with law enforcement in a Friday X post, without specifying the agencies involved.
The exchange said it set aside more than $6.34 billion to cover losses and would include the assets in its next proof-of-reserves report. Binance said Friday that it had set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses from its hack, with $5 billion already in held in the same tokens stolen. “The $5 billion is held in the exact token assets that are required. These assets are in Binance custody,” a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph. Binance did not disclose when it acquired the assets.
Follow live updates as Binance says $6.3 billion in assets have been stolen in a major hack. Around $3 billion in stolen funds have been frozen. Oct. 30 at 11:07 am UTC Binance is buying altcoins in quantities matching those stolen in the hack as it prepares updated proof of reserves, co-CEO Yi He said. The purchases are being made through over-the-counter deals and on exchanges, she said.
Bitcoin held above $76,000 after a $6.3 billion Binance hack and a tech-stock sell-off, as momentum indicators pointed to a possible rebound. Bitcoin (BTC) traded above $77,000 on Friday as crypto market liquidations passed $1.5 billion over 24 hours. Key points:
Security experts say attackers could have drained Binance’s wallets without EIP-7702, but the Ethereum upgrade may have helped bypass withdrawal safeguards. Compromised signing systems likely enabled Binance’s $6.3 billion hack, while Ethereum’s EIP-7702 upgrade may have helped attackers bypass security checks, according to blockchain security firm Blockaid. Attackers could have stolen the funds without EIP-7702, Ido Ben-Natan, Blockaid’s co-founder and CEO, told Cointelegraph on Friday. “The 7702 upgrade is a way to do this in one sweep and maybe a way to bypass some sort of checks they may have,” Ben-Natan said, explaining that attackers otherwise would have needed multiple transactions.
The attackers held 18,270 BTC early Friday, topping Coinbase’s reported corporate holdings, and an Ether stash exceeding 500,000 ETH. The attackers behind the $6.3 billion Binance hack held more Bitcoin on Friday than crypto exchange Coinbase’s holding for investment and operation at the end of September. Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery traced 18,270 Bitcoin (BTC), worth roughly $1.4 billion, to 19 addresses linked to the attacker. Coinbase reported holding 17,954 BTC for investment and 117 BTC for operations as of Sept. 30, a combined 18,071 BTC. The Binance hacker’s haul exceeded that total by 199 BTC. Coinbase’s holdings does not include the BTC that the exchange holds for customers.
North Korean hackers previously used THORChain to move funds stolen from Bybit and Bitget, prompting calls for the protocol to intervene. THORChain’s RUNE token rose more than 13% on Friday after Binance confirmed a $6.3 billion hack. RUNE climbed to $0.67 at the time of writing from a local low of $0.59 at 12:20 a.m. UTC, according to TradingView data. Onchain investigator ZachXBT reported Friday that funds stolen from Binance and September’s Bitget hack had passed through THORChain before being combined at the same Ethereum address.
TRM Labs says it has high confidence in the attribution, while ZachXBT identified stolen funds from the Binance and Bitget hacks converging at the same address. Cybersecurity researchers from TRM Labs and Chainalysis, along with onchain investigator ZachXBT, have linked the $6.3 billion Binance hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. TRM Labs attributed the attack to TraderTraitor with “high confidence,” citing onchain and offchain intelligence. Onchain investigator ZachXBT said funds stolen from Binance and the earlier Bitget exploit were commingled at the same address after moving through THORChain.
Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick says the breach could accelerate a shift toward decentralized trading and strengthen his case for Uniswap’s UNI token reaching $100 by 2030. The Binance hack could accelerate a shift in crypto trading toward decentralized exchanges, benefiting Uniswap over the longer term, according to Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick. In an email shared with Cointelegraph, Kendrick said the breach should drive further growth in decentralized exchanges’ share of trading relative to centralized platforms, though investors should wait until after the impact of the Binance attack has time to play out in the markets. “I would encourage investors to re-engage with Uniswap,” said Kendrick. “The decentralized exchange (DEX) has n…
Binance says attackers may have used a compromised DevOps laptop to access internal infrastructure. Update (Oct. 30 at 2:44 am UTC): This article has been updated to include Binance’s preliminary investigation into the security breach. Binance said its initial investigation into the multi-billion crypto breach has pointed to a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop. The exchange said the laptop compromise may have allowed an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. It said it had found no evidence of a wallet private-key leak, though its investigation remains ongoing.
Bitcoin and Ether tumbled as the broader crypto market fell 3.3%, with reports of suspicious multibillion-dollar transfers from Binance-linked wallets fueling uncertainty. Cryptocurrency markets fell sharply Thursday as reports of a potential multibillion-dollar hack involving Binance wallets rattled investors, sending BNB down more than 7% and pushing the broader market lower. The selloff coincided with reports of suspicious transfers involving Binance-linked wallets. Blockchain security firm Blockaid identified approximately $3.3 billion in suspicious transfers, while Arkham Intelligence tracked roughly $5.84 billion in assets held by wallets labeled “binance-hacker-1029,” though neither figure represents a confirmed theft amount. BNB, the native token of BNB Chain, traded near $702, dow…
Follow live updates as Binance says $2.54 billion in assets has been frozen after a multibillion-dollar hack, with further freezes possible as investigators trace funds. Oct. 29 at 11:40 pm UTC Ripple is freezing holdings of its dollar-pegged RLUSD stablecoin linked to the Binance hack, according to Jack McDonald, the company’s senior vice president of stablecoins. McDonald said Ripple was “actively freezing affected funds” and coordinating with relevant parties to support the investigation. He did not disclose the amount frozen.
The exchange is delisting 22 crypto assets for Brazilian users and hopes talks with the central bank will allow it to restore some services. Binance has applied for a cryptocurrency service provider license in Brazil, seeking to maintain its operations in one of Latin America’s largest crypto markets ahead of a regulatory deadline on Friday, Oct. 30. The exchange submitted its application to the Central Bank of Brazil on Friday, Oct. 23, through its local entity, BBrasil, according to a statement shared with Cointelegraph. The company said the filing would allow Brazilian users to continue accessing crypto assets, stablecoin trading, payments and investment services.
The crypto exchange was reportedly looking to use the additional funding to regain market share following Binance’s 2023 settlement with US authorities. Binance.US is reportedly seeking to raise up to $100 million in a funding round that could value the cryptocurrency exchange at $1 billion. According to a Thursday Bloomberg report, the US-based crypto exchange is pursuing private investment as it looks to expand its business. The potential $1 billion valuation would be well below the $4.5 billion pre-money valuation it secured in 2022, when it raised $200 million in seed funding. Binance.US reportedly informed World Liberty Financial, the crypto platform co-founded by US President Donald Trump and his sons, about the funding round, but the company will not be participating. Last year, Bin…
Binance will discontinue its mining pool and related services on Nov. 10, urging miners to move to alternative pools before the shutdown. Crypto exchange Binance is shutting down its mining pool and related services in November, ending an operation that has been running for over six years. On Tuesday, Binance said it would discontinue Binance Pool on Nov. 10. The shutdown also covers Pool Savings, Cloud Mining, Transaction Accelerator and related features, including mining pool APIs and hashrate notifications. After the deadline, Binance said it would disable its mining endpoints and disconnect miners from the pool. The exchange will no longer accept hashrate submissions or credit mining shares received after the cutoff. Affected products will stop generating rewards and yields.
Binance BTC reserves fell by nearly 40,000 coins since Sept. 20 as whales returned stablecoin capital to their exchange wallets. Bitcoin (BTC) outflows from largest crypto exchange Binance set multiyear records in late September, new analysis reveals. Key points:
EU regulators are reportedly examining Binance’s use of a MiCA exemption to serve customers as ESMA seeks stronger enforcement powers. European regulators are reportedly scrutinizing Binance’s use of a legal exemption to continue serving customers in the European Union without authorization under the bloc’s crypto rules. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and regulators in France, Germany and Greece are examining Binance’s use of reverse solicitation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Binance withdrew its Greek MiCA application in June and said it would seek authorization in another EU member state.
Binance Pay will let overseas users spend USDT at most PayPay-supported merchants in Japan through HIVEX, while stores receive yen. Binance Pay will allow eligible overseas users visiting Japan to spend Tether USDt (USDT) at the vast majority of PayPay-supported merchants starting Wednesday. The service will run through HIVEX, a payment interoperability framework that connects overseas QR payment services to PayPay-supported merchants in Japan. Merchants will continue receiving settlement in yen. Binance told Cointelegraph it is the first crypto payment service to access PayPay-supported merchants through HIVEX. Merchants will not need to opt in separately, it said.
Rachel Conlan will oversee institutional partnerships and ecosystem growth, while Jamal Raees will focus on stablecoins and tokenized deposits, following a wave of new partnerships. Solana Foundation has appointed former Binance chief marketing officer Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer and former Polygon Labs executive Jamal Raees as general manager of payments. Conlan will lead strategy across institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth and efforts to bring businesses onto Solana, the foundation said Thursday. She spent three years at Binance and previously held senior roles at OKX, CAA Sports and Havas. Raees said he would deepen the foundation’s engagement with major payments companies and focus on infrastructure used by teams building payment services on Solana.
