The latest on last night’s $6.3 billion Binance hack:
First, to be clear: the hot wallet that was attacked was managed by Binance itself. It held funds entrusted to the platform, not users’ personal wallets.
The initial investigation found that a Binance employee’s computer may have been hacked, allowing the attackers to break into Binance’s internal systems and transfer the funds out. Security firms also suspect links to a North Korean hacking group.
The incident involves around $6.3 billion, of which about $3 billion has been frozen. Binance has pledged to cover all losses with company funds and its SAFU fund.
This has also been a rare example of the crypto community coming together to help.
Tether and Circle quickly froze funds, Coinbase offered assistance, and numerous security teams joined the effort to track them down. CZ specifically mentioned that even some competitors who hadn’t had the best relationship with Binance in the past came to its aid.
Many people are guessing that the competitor might be Star Xu, given the friction between the two companies in the past. But CZ didn’t name anyone, so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about who it was. It’s pretty rare for a competitor to set aside old grievances and help out at a critical moment.
The interaction between CZ and Elon Musk was quite dramatic, too.
Musk first replied to one of CZ’s tweets with a few teasing emojis. CZ reminded him that this wasn’t the time for jokes, then mentioned that the SpaceX-related shares he received from his early investment in Twitter are now worth more than $1 billion.
Yi He then said that Binance’s annual revenue was enough to make up for the loss, so there was no need to sell shares in a company they believed in. CZ added that he wasn’t planning to sell; he just wanted to reassure Musk.
As a woman, I also really feel for Yi. She lost a child at the start of this year after working herself too hard, and now she’s pregnant again. On top of that, she’s had to deal with such a serious security incident and stay up all night handling all kinds of issues.
A security breach involving billions of dollars is something Binance must take seriously and thoroughly review. It also needs to accept its share of responsibility.
But this time, CZ and Yi He didn’t dodge the issue, Binance clearly pledged to cover the losses, and others in the industry did their best to help. Those actions deserve recognition, too.
Anyone can praise a company when things are going smoothly. What really tests a company is whether it can take responsibility when something this serious happens.
I hope the remaining funds are recovered soon, and I hope Yi takes good care of herself and her baby. ❤️
$BNB
First, to be clear: the hot wallet that was attacked was managed by Binance itself. It held funds entrusted to the platform, not users’ personal wallets.
The initial investigation found that a Binance employee’s computer may have been hacked, allowing the attackers to break into Binance’s internal systems and transfer the funds out. Security firms also suspect links to a North Korean hacking group.
The incident involves around $6.3 billion, of which about $3 billion has been frozen. Binance has pledged to cover all losses with company funds and its SAFU fund.
This has also been a rare example of the crypto community coming together to help.
Tether and Circle quickly froze funds, Coinbase offered assistance, and numerous security teams joined the effort to track them down. CZ specifically mentioned that even some competitors who hadn’t had the best relationship with Binance in the past came to its aid.
Many people are guessing that the competitor might be Star Xu, given the friction between the two companies in the past. But CZ didn’t name anyone, so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about who it was. It’s pretty rare for a competitor to set aside old grievances and help out at a critical moment.
The interaction between CZ and Elon Musk was quite dramatic, too.
Musk first replied to one of CZ’s tweets with a few teasing emojis. CZ reminded him that this wasn’t the time for jokes, then mentioned that the SpaceX-related shares he received from his early investment in Twitter are now worth more than $1 billion.
Yi He then said that Binance’s annual revenue was enough to make up for the loss, so there was no need to sell shares in a company they believed in. CZ added that he wasn’t planning to sell; he just wanted to reassure Musk.
As a woman, I also really feel for Yi. She lost a child at the start of this year after working herself too hard, and now she’s pregnant again. On top of that, she’s had to deal with such a serious security incident and stay up all night handling all kinds of issues.
A security breach involving billions of dollars is something Binance must take seriously and thoroughly review. It also needs to accept its share of responsibility.
But this time, CZ and Yi He didn’t dodge the issue, Binance clearly pledged to cover the losses, and others in the industry did their best to help. Those actions deserve recognition, too.
Anyone can praise a company when things are going smoothly. What really tests a company is whether it can take responsibility when something this serious happens.
I hope the remaining funds are recovered soon, and I hope Yi takes good care of herself and her baby. ❤️
$BNB
