In yet another centralized exchange breach -of which there has now been $356m stolen in 2019 alone -hackers have stolen $40m from Binance's hot wallet along with two factor authentication codes and API tokens. The most intriguing part of the story is it also revealed Binance holds over $2bn in BTC and that Binance considered doing a rollback on the bitcoin network! To our readers, please update immediately your two-factor and API Keys!
How Serious Is This?On the face of it, maybe not so bad. Forty million is a plenty big number, but it’s only a small percentage of Binance funds, and users will apparently get their money back. But the fact that Binance can afford to take a mulligan doesn’t excuse what appears to be a devastatingly thorough hack. And it’s unclear whether the compromise of two-factor codes and API keys will have broader implications. Most of all, it’s the latest reminder that, for all the promise of cryptocurrency, it remains a Wild West for investors. If the price fluctuations don’t get you, a hacker, a fraud, or a scam is always just around the corner.
https://www.wired.com/story/hack-binance-cryptocurrency-exchange/