A significant security breach recently hit the Singaporean bitcoin exchange, BingX. The exchange’s hot wallets lost almost $43 million due to hacker activity, making it one of the largest crypto attacks this year. This event has ignited concerns about the security policies of centralized exchanges.
BingX Hack: What Happened?
Blockchain security firms Peck Shield and De.Fi first noticed unusual activity involving substantial fund transfers from BingX’s hot wallet. The exchange’s technical team detected abnormal access patterns around 4 AM Singapore time, indicating a potential attack.
Upon discovering the breach, BingX activated its emergency procedures. This included temporarily blocking withdrawals for up to 24 hours and transferring assets to cold storage. Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer of BingX, assured that most of the funds were safe in cold wallets, despite the “meager losses.”
Initial assessments indicated losses of approximately $26 million. However, further investigation revealed that hackers had stolen over $43 million worth of cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Tether (USDT).
User Payment And Reaction
In response to the breach, BingX has pledged to fully compensate affected customers using its own funds. The exchange has emphasized its commitment to user security and transparency, and is working on a compensation plan. Lin mentioned that they expect to restore withdrawal services soon after completing necessary security checks.
Despite these reassurances, the cryptocurrency community expressed dissatisfaction with BingX’s initial communication, which referred to the incident as “wallet maintenance.” Users felt misled about the severity of the breach, leading to calls for greater transparency from centralized exchanges like BingX.
Increasing Exchange Hacking Trend
The attack on BingX is part of a worrying trend where hackers are increasingly targeting centralized exchanges. Just last week, Indonesian exchange Indodax suffered a similar attack, losing $22 million. Additionally, India’s largest exchange, WazirX, lost over $230 million under similar circumstances earlier last year. Many of these attacks have been linked to the North Korean Lazarus Group, known for its sophisticated hacking techniques.
