Introduction: Crypto 'scammers on overdrive' as Binance customers pull billions from accounts after $6.3bn hack
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy.
Crypto scammers are now in “overdrive”, the founder of crypto exchange Binance has warned, as customers pull billions in funds from the platform as it recovers from a record hack.
The platform was hit by a $6.3bn theft on Thursday, which has since been described as the biggest heist in history. Experts identified North Korea as the probable culprit.
Binance initially froze withdrawals as it investigated the breach but on Sunday announced it had begun a phased reopening.
By Sunday afternoon, the platform had processed $4.6bn in withdrawals and $1bn in deposits, resulting in a net outflow of about $3.6bn – 2.1% of its $171bn in total assets under management. (Those numbers were confirmed by the company in its latest proof of reserves snapshot – a full report is expected today.)
Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the platform and commonly known as CZ, has warned that scammers are now targeting those that are trying to pull their money from the platform. He wrote on X:
His post was in response to a post which said:
The hack has spooked the market, with investors also pulling out funds from Bitcoin ETFs in the US, according to Nick Forster, chief executive of Derive.xyz, a crypto platform. He said:
He added that the odds of Bitcoin hitting the $100,000 level by the end of the year were now just 3.5%.
The agenda
6am GMT: Ryanair half-year results
9am GMT: Eurozone manufacturing PMI
9.30am GMT: UK manufacturing PMI
3pm GMT: US manufacturing PMI
10pm GMT: Apple Q4 earnings
European stock markets have opened lower this morning, with the UK’s blue chip FTSE 100 down 0.3%.
Its worst performers are Endeavour Mining and BP which are both down by about 1.7%.
The Stoxx Europe 600, which tracks the biggest companies on the continent, is down 0.3%.
Oil falls 2.6% after reports Trump will give diplomacy with Iran more time
Elsewhere this morning: oil prices have retreated after reports that US president Donald Trump wants to give diplomacy with Iran more time before possibly restarting strikes after the midterm election result.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, is down 2.6% to about $110 a barrel.
Trump told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants to let negotiations with Iran play out before potentially restarting strikes after the midterm elections on Tuesday, according to a report by Axios, which cited unnamed sources.
Financial regulators around the world are meeting with crypto exchanges to discuss their cybersecurity measures.
South Korea’s financial regulator held an emergency meeting on Monday to inspect local exchanges’ cybersecurity, according to Reuters. It ordered various measures that could be implemented immediately, including constant transaction monitoring and operating response systems to detect and report irregular access attempts.
Other measures include raising the ratio of cold wallets, which secure cryptocurrency private keys offline, and increasing their reserve deposits.
And in Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission is expected to step up guidance to the crypto industry soon via new circulars. Executive director for intermediaries Eric Yip said at Hong Kong’s FinTech week forum said that new guidance will be coming in the last two months of the year, Reuters reported.
And in case you missed it: rival trading platform Chainalysis said on Friday it had also been the target of a cyber attack, although it found no evidence of unauthorised access to “investigation content, authentication credentials, or session tokens.”
It said in a statement:
Introduction: Crypto 'scammers on overdrive' as Binance customers pull billions from accounts after $6.3bn hack
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy.
Crypto scammers are now in “overdrive”, the founder of crypto exchange Binance has warned, as customers pull billions in funds from the platform as it recovers from a record hack.
The platform was hit by a $6.3bn theft on Thursday, which has since been described as the biggest heist in history. Experts identified North Korea as the probable culprit.
Binance initially froze withdrawals as it investigated the breach but on Sunday announced it had begun a phased reopening.
By Sunday afternoon, the platform had processed $4.6bn in withdrawals and $1bn in deposits, resulting in a net outflow of about $3.6bn – 2.1% of its $171bn in total assets under management. (Those numbers were confirmed by the company in its latest proof of reserves snapshot – a full report is expected today.)
Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the platform and commonly known as CZ, has warned that scammers are now targeting those that are trying to pull their money from the platform. He wrote on X:
His post was in response to a post which said:
The hack has spooked the market, with investors also pulling out funds from Bitcoin ETFs in the US, according to Nick Forster, chief executive of Derive.xyz, a crypto platform. He said:
He added that the odds of Bitcoin hitting the $100,000 level by the end of the year were now just 3.5%.
The agenda
6am GMT: Ryanair half-year results
9am GMT: Eurozone manufacturing PMI
9.30am GMT: UK manufacturing PMI
3pm GMT: US manufacturing PMI
10pm GMT: Apple Q4 earnings
