Crypto exchange Binance freezes assets after $6.3 billion security breach

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said a security breach had resulted in an estimated $6. 3 billion impact that analysts said could amount to the biggest crypto heist ever and might make investors rethink the risks of owning digital assets. Binance said it had worked with partners to freeze the affected assets, with about $3 billion located so far. It gave no update on the status of the remaining $3. 3 billion as Binance co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses”. An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of its engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorised withdrawals, Binance said. Markets reacted immediately in early Asian trading on Friday.

Bitcoin dropped more than 3 per cent to a six-week low of $76,368 and ether fell more than 3pc to a two-month low of $2,178. BNB, a token originally launched as Binance Coin that can be used to pay Binance fees, was down 5pc over the past 24 hours at $709. 70, according to market aggregator CoinGecko. Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global slid 4. 8pc while those of bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6pc in extended US trading. The incident could be the world’s biggest crypto heist, according to analytics firm Chainalysis and other industry experts. “It’s the biggest hack in history,” said Aravind Srinivasan, head of large crypto market maker GSR’s systematic OTC business. Beyond the potential loss of assets, the security breach was likely to have wider ramifications for crypto, which had already been under pressure lately due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers, analysts said. “It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to…