🔶 $6.3 billion in losses after a hack attack on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange

A security incident on an unprecedented scale at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has resulted in losses amounting to $6.3 billion. According to analysts’ estimates, this event could be the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.

Binance said it has been able, together with its partners, to identify and freeze some of the targeted funds and assets. So far, assets worth approximately $3 billion have been traced.

One of Binance’s founders said the company will compensate for all losses caused by the hack attack.

Based on initial investigations, the incident likely began with the hacking of a laptop belonging to one of the company’s engineers.

Markets reacted to the event in early trading. The price of Bitcoin fell by more than three percent to $76,368, its lowest level in the past six weeks. In the following hours, the price of Bitcoin rose to more than $78,000.

Ether’s price also dropped by more than three percent to $2,178, which is its lowest level in the past two months.

BNB token, which can be used to pay fees on Binance, has seen a five percent price decline over the past 24 hours.

Coinbase Global’s shares fell 4.8%, while shares of Strategy, the buyer of Bitcoin, in after-hours trading in the U.S. market fell nearly six percent.

Bernardo Bretes, manager of Trice Finance, a company active in payment infrastructure, said that defending against cyberattacks is becoming increasingly difficult because artificial intelligence can identify vulnerabilities faster than they can be fixed.

The Binance hack incident is among the latest cases of recent cryptocurrency thefts. According to researchers at TRM Labs, attackers stole cryptocurrencies worth $2.9 billion in nearly 150 attacks over the past year.

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