Binance assists BtcTurk attack probe, freezes $5.3M in 'stolen funds'

cryptocurrency exchange Binance is allegedly assisting in investigating a malicious attack against Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk, with over $5 million in stolen funds frozen at this stage, according to Binance CEO Richard Teng.

“Binance is assisting BtcTurk with investigations and have frozen over $5.3M in stolen funds so far,” Teng wrote in a June 22 X post .

BtcTurk, with over 5 million users according to its website, stated that the attack primarily affected holdings in hot wallets — software-based crypto wallets linked to the internet. Hot wallets, although more efficient for frequent transactions, are more vulnerable to malicious hackers compared to offlcold storage.

“Only a portion of the balances of 10 cryptocurrencies in our hot wallets were affected by this cyber attack, while the majority of assets held in our cold wallets remain secure,” a Google-translated version of BtcTurk's June 22 statement read.

Meanwhile, Teng informed his 299,800 X followers that Binance will provide any updates once its investigations team finds out more information.

“Our investigations security teams work around the clock as part of our proactive efforts to protect the ecosystem from bad actors. We will provide further updates as relevant,” Teng stated.

Binance receives praise as bad actors continue to attack crypto exchanges

It comes after Blockchain investigator ZackXBT praised Binance for its efforts in helping the wider community during security incidents .

“Binance gets crucified by the media when in reality their security team generally does more for victims + goes out of their way to assist in incident response,” ZachXBT stated on June 22 in an X post .

BtcTurk’s CEO Özgür Güneri has not yet made a public comment on X regarding the matter.

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It comes only days after Switzerland-based crypto exchange Lykke halted withdrawals after suffering an exploit on June 4.

Blockchain security researcher SomaXBT accused the team of attempting to hide the security breach, stating “@lykke CTX got exploited and lost $19.5 million worth crypto assets but the team is still trying to hide this fact.”

Cointelegraph has reached out to BtcTurk for comment but did not receive a response a time of publication.

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