Hackers have nicked well over $40 million worth of bitcoin from the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, the Binance exchange representatives confirmed in a statement, adding they discovered the breach on Tuesday.
As many as 7,000 bitcoins were found to have been stolen in one single transaction, but the exchange assured they would compensate for the loss to the full extent so that no users’ funds would be affected.
According to Binance, the global platform founded back in 2017, the rogues carried out a multi-sided attack using phishing, viruses and other digital means to hack the accounts, also targeting sensitive personal data; however, fortunately, the alarms went off warning of the illegal withdrawal.
"The hackers had the patience to wait and execute well-orchestrated actions through the multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time," Binance said in the statement.
"The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security checks. It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed.
Binance has ow voiced an intention to complete a security review of systems and data and said it will give updates in the course of its safety checks.
"Most importantly, deposits and withdrawals will need to REMAIN SUSPENDED during this period of time," the exchange said, requesting users’ patience:
"We beg for your understanding in this difficult situation."
Trading will not be suspended, but Binance, which trades over 100 different cryptocurrencies, cautioned that the hackers could still control certain user accounts and may use those to influence prices.
As of early Wednesday, the hacked 7,000 bitcoins carried a value of about $41,009,000.
BTC price corrected lower the other day after its strong rise last week, first trading above the $5,800 level against the US Dollar and then going down to a little below $5,700.
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