Binance Freezes 5 Million Associated with Turkish Exchanges 54 Million Cyberattack

Binance Freezes $5 Million Linked to Turkish Exchange Cyberattack Valued at $54 Million


Ruholamin Haqshanas
Published:
June 23, 2024 04:00 EDT
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Reading Time: 2 min


Taking swift action, Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange globally, has halted funds associated with a significant cyberattack on BtcTurk, a Turkish exchange.
The attack specifically targeted ten of BtcTurk’s hot wallets following reports of suspicious transfers involving Avalanche tokens surfacing over the weekend.
In an official
blog post
, BtcTurk reassured its users that its cold wallets, which house the majority of its assets, are secure, and the company’s financial stability remains intact.
Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, confirmed that his company is actively supporting BtcTurk in investigating the breach.
As part of their joint efforts, Binance has frozen over $5.3 million in stolen funds, effectively preventing any further unauthorized transactions.
“Our dedicated investigation and security teams are working tirelessly as a proactive measure to safeguard the ecosystem against malicious actors. We will continue to provide updates as necessary,” Teng stated on X.
Estimated $54 Million in Avalanche Tokens Connected to Cyberattacks
Blockchain expert ZachXBT conducted an analysis and determined that approximately $54 million worth of Avalanche tokens were likely involved in the cyberattack.
These funds were transferred to multiple exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase, utilizing the THORChain protocol.
Following this, the stolen funds were converted into Bitcoin and moved to two separate wallets. These significant transactions coincided with the public announcement of the attack by BtcTurk.
Further solidifying the link between BtcTurk and the Avalanche transfers, a blockchain researcher had previously identified the relevant Avalanche wallet as belonging to a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange.
ZachXBT also raised concerns about a potential hack targeting the online casino Sportsbet.
The investigator suggested that the same threat actor responsible for the BtcTurk attack may have also stolen over $3.5 million from Sportsbet, with funds from both incidents potentially being combined.
However, Sportsbet has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Following the cyberattack and subsequent transfers, Avalanche’s price experienced a temporary decline of approximately 10%.
However, the token has since recovered about 5% of its value from its lowest point over the weekend.
Increase in Crypto Scams
Crypto scams have seen a surge on X, with analysts attributing a significant portion of these incidents to scammers on the platform.
Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam company active on X, conducted an analysis revealing that nearly $50 million is lost each month due to account impersonation on X.com.
While these issues existed prior to Elon Musk’s involvement with the platform, the confusion surrounding the new owner’s controversial paid verification service may contribute to the ongoing vulnerability of the general public to impersonation scams.
Just recently, Binance co-founder Yi He expressed concerns about the rise of cryptocurrency scams on X, questioning whether Musk would take steps to address the issue.
Similarly, Rapper 50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson, fell victim to a hacking incident, with his X account being utilized to promote a fraudulent meme coin based on the Solana blockchain.
The hacker took advantage of the 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.
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