Crypto exchange BingX loses an estimated $43M to hack

Cryptocurrency exchange BingX suffered a major breach that resulted in a substantial financial loss.

Cybersecurity firm PeckShield announced today (Sep. 20) BingX was hacked and ended up losing 5,300 Ethereum (ETH), 4,100 BNB and 1.65 Polygon Polygon (MATIC). This estimate is equivalent to a loss of about $43 million.

#PeckShieldAlert Another $16.5M worth of cryptos has been drained from #BingX by 0x940362B46faf7DF48Af1c8989d809F50466B5fCA about 7 hours ago.
The stolen funds are currently parked at 0x1Dd7dAf089C16856155FeFd7e2170966bb6b3AEE, totaling 5.3K $ETH, 4.1K $BNB & 1.65M $MATIC.
We…

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 20, 2024

BingX’s chief product officer, Vivien Lin, explained that only a hot wallet was involved when BingX’s technical team detected the breach. A hot wallet is a wallet that holds immediately accessible funds for the crypto exchange, while a cold wallet keeps those meant for long-term holding. She wrote:

“There has been minor asset loss, but the amount is small and still being calculated.”

At around 4am 20 Sep Singapore time, our technical team detected abnormal network access, suspecting a hacker attack on BingX's hot wallet. We immediately started our emergency plan, including the urgent transfer of assets and withdraw suspension. There has been minor asset loss,…

— Vivien Lin @ BingX (@Vivien_BingX) September 20, 2024

Lin explained that BingX uses a layered management system to decrease potential hack damage. Withdrawals have been suspended, but she promised that they will be restored within 24 hours. She concluded:

“We are working on a compensation plan, which will be announced soon.”

While the loss suggested by PeckShield would appear rather serious, Lin highlighted that “the total loss is minimal and manageable.” The explanation is that what the executive described as an “urgent transfer of assets” was interpreted by the cybersecurity firm as part of the theft.

The report follows hackers seizing control of the official McDonald’s Instagram account in late Aug. 2024 to promote and ‘rug pull’ a memecoin called ‘Grimace’, claiming they made off with over $700,000. McDonald’s commented at the time:

“We have resolved the issue on those accounts and apologize to our fans for any offensive language posted during that time.”

At the end of 2023, ReadWrite reported that two cryptocurrency platforms with ties to digital entrepreneur Justin Sun were the targets of recent exploits by hackers that may have stolen over $115 million worth of digital assets.

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