Hackers stole bitcoin worth $41 million from Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, the company said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of thefts from cryptocurrency exchanges around the world.
The Binance exchange, which stores Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies for members, said hackers took 7,000 bitcoins in one go. Withdrawals have now been suspended on the platform.
“We beg for your understanding in this difficult situation,” Binance said.
However, the exchange said it would replace the lost cash with the help of its emergency insurance fund.
According to Binance, the attackers used a variety of techniques to break in. They deployed viruses and used phishing attacks to get security information.
This eventually allowed them to access the exchange’s “hot wallet”, an online cache of bitcoins readily available for customer transactions.
The hot wallet contained about 2% of Binance’s total crypto-currency assets. Other wallets were “secure and unharmed”, the firm said.
