Timeline of Binance’s Response to the Recent Hackpublished at 10:03 GMT
Jacob Phillips
Live reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesOn Thursday evening, Binance revealed that it was looking into a security concern. By Friday morning, estimates of the potential financial impact had soared past $6 billion (£4.47 billion).
Here’s a detailed timeline summarizing Binance’s communications throughout this incident:
Thursday
21:29 GMT Binance announces that it is “actively investigating” a possible security situation, assuring users that their assets are “totally secure.”
22:33 The company states that its team is conducting thorough security assessments and that withdrawal operations will resume “once the security issue is completely addressed,” reiterating that user assets are protected.
23:06 Trading on Binance Alpha is halted temporarily.
23:22 Binance reports that it has locked down $2.54 billion (£1.89 billion) in assets, indicating that this figure may rise as it collaborates with law enforcement, asset issuers, blockchain intelligence firms, and partners in the industry.
Friday
00:13 Binance announces plans to cover all losses, prompting a temporary suspension of all deposits and withdrawals as a precautionary measure.
00:52 The total amount of frozen assets is reported to have escalated to about $3 billion (£2.24 billion).
02:25 An early investigation suggests that the security breach may have stemmed from a “compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop,” which enabled hackers to access and execute unauthorized transactions. The estimated financial hit is around $6.3 billion (£4.7 billion).
07:37 Co-CEO Richard Teng reassures users, stating: “Your funds are safe, and we will cover every loss.” He explains that the hack involved “a complex attack process” rather than a straightforward action. The investigation has not yet pinpointed any individual as responsible.
08:47 Binance reveals the discovery of further “breach points” alongside the compromised laptop, indicating progress towards restoring withdrawal services within 45 hours.