BingX Suffers Security Breach, as Hackers Steal $43 Million

Singapore-based crypto exchange BingX is the latest victim of a security breach, losing over $43 million in crypto assets to hackers.

Security firm PeckShield called attention to the exploit in a post on X this morning. The platform alerted the public to suspicious activity on BingX’s hot wallet, where a large amount of funds was moved to a new address.

BingX confirmed the activity in a disclosure, stating it has enabled an emergency response, which involved moving its assets to a cold wallet.

🚨 Security Update 🚨

At 4 AM (SGT) on Sept 20, our team detected abnormal access to the BingX hot wallet, suspecting a hacker attack. We immediately initiated an emergency response, including asset transfers and pausing withdrawals.

🔒 Only minor losses so far, and we’ve got… https://t.co/7CFsqF5W20

— BingX (@BingXOfficial) September 20, 2024

BingX claimed that “minor losses” were incurred from the hack, noting that its team was working to prevent further damage. The exchange also stated that it has temporarily paused withdrawals, and its platform has gone down for 24-hour maintenance.

BingX Suffers “Minor” Losses

Interestingly, the Singapore-based exchange didn’t confirm the exact amount it lost to the hack, as it stated they were yet to discover the extent of the damages. However, Lookonchain stated that BingX lost $26 million, incosistent with the figure reported by PeckShield.

Meanwhile, The Data Nerd noted that BingX lost over $43 million. The on-chain data analyst stated that the exploit affected two of the exchange’s hot wallets, and the hackers pilfered a total of 396 tokens.

Per reports, the exploiter stole 17 million USDT, 3.35 million USDC, 1.04 million WUSD, 13.64 BTC ($858,000), 5,300 ETH ($13.5 million), 4,100 BNB ($2.4 million), and 1.65 MATIC ($671,385). Notably, the hacker converted the stolen funds to Ethereum, BNB, and MATIC, the native tokens of their respective blockchains.

It bears mentioning that BingX assured users it would cover all losses incurred from the hack. The Singapore-based exchange stated it was working on a compensation plan for users affected by the early Friday hack.

Exchange Hack on the Rise

A concerning trend of hacks has emerged recently as exploiters have ramped up attacks on centralized exchanges. BingX’s hack was one of the numerous successful exploits among exchanges.

The attackers have looked particularly similar, with the hacker targeting exchanges’ hot wallet addresses. Last week, Indonesian-based crypto exchange Indodax lost $22 million to a hot wallet compromise.

Also, India’s largest exchange, WazirX, lost $230 million in July in the same theft tactics, revealing an inherent vulnerability in hot wallets among exchanges. Notably, most of these hacks have been tied to North Korea’s notorious hackers, the Lazarus group.