Binance freezes $5 million that was taken from BtcTurk after an alleged $54 million hack of a Turkish exchange

  • The great majority of BtcTurk’s bitcoin, which is kept in cold wallets, is safe, the exchange stated. On Saturday, the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange disclosed that a hack had impacted the money in ten of its hot wallets.
  • The CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, stated on X that his platform has already frozen over $5.3 million in cash that was purloined and that he is assisting BtcTurk in its probe. 
  • ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, has estimated that $55 million could have been lost as a result of the hack, mostly in AVAX tokens, after seeing dubious transfers that match with the attack.

Following allegations of unusual transactions of Avalanche AVAX -3.90% tokens on Saturday, the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk revealed that a cyberattack had compromised the cryptocurrency held in ten of its hot wallets. 

In its release, the exchange stated that the company is still solvent and that its cold wallets, which hold the great bulk of its assets, are safe.

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, is helping BtcTurk with the investigation, and as of right now, it has frozen “over $5.3 million in stolen funds,” according to CEO Richard Teng’s announcement on X.

After a timing study revealed that suspicious movements of over $54 million in Avalanche tokens were probably related to the hack, blockchain expert ZachXBT stated. ZachXBT said that significant transactions took place around the same time as BtcTurk revealed the hack, involving the transfer of the funds via THORChain to exchanges like Binance and Coinbase and their subsequent withdrawal as Bitcoin to two other wallets.

Furthermore, a blockchain researcher had previously determined that the relevant Avalanche wallet belonged to a cryptocurrency exchange in Turkey, which supported the link between BtcTurk and the Avalanche transfers.

Additionally, ZachXBT said on Telegram that the same threat actor that targeted BTCTurk two hours earlier most likely gained access to the online casino Sportsbet for more than $3.5 million in thefts. 

However a notice on the website notes that gameplay with Bitcoin and BNB is now unavailable, along with transactions on the BTC and BSC networks, under the subject of Cashier Maintenance.

Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.

Author: Lalit Mohan

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