Chelsea FC sponsor BingX tried to hide $40M hack behind ‘wallet maintenance’
BingX, a Singapore-based crypto exchange, has lost a total of almost $45 million in assorted cryptocurrencies after its hot wallets were drained across 11 chains.
News of the attack, which began shortly after 10pm UTC on Thursday, spread via X (formerly Twitter) with both security audit firm Peckshield and crypto commentator MartyParty remarking on the suspicious outflows.
BingX did not initially confirm the loss; instead, it informed users of “Temporary Wallet Maintenance” via a post on X. The accompanying article makes no mention of a security incident, either, simply telling users to “deposit or withdraw later.”
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However, in a reply to the post, BingX’s Chief Product Officer, Vivien Lin, admitted that its “technical team detected abnormal network access, suspecting a hacker attack on BingX’s hot wallet.” The attack has, according to Lin, resulted in a “minor asset loss.”
Crypto security firm SlowMist, which is working alongside BingX to trace the movement of funds, published a breakdown of the losses, estimating the total loss at around $44.7 million. Approximately $1 million of the stolen funds have reportedly been frozen.
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In a follow-up post, Lin said that the “minimal and manageable” losses will be covered by BingX and users should expect withdrawals and deposits to be back online within 24 hours.
The hack came hours after Singapore’s premier crypto conference Token2049 drew to a close, with Lin having spoken the day before. Reflecting on the discussion in light of the loss, she remarked that security had been “highlighted as the foundation for the industry’s growth.”
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