Binance recovers $73m in stolen funds

Binance says its security team has managed to recover or freeze over $73 million stolen during cryptocurrency attacks and scams.

Binance explained in a press release on August 8 that the recovered or frozen funds were related to external attacks on the crypto market as of July 31, 2024. 80 percent of the funds were from external attacks, thefts, and exploits, while 20 percent were stolen in crypto scams.

According to Binance, the total of $73 million recovered through July 31 of this year exceeds the $55 million recovered by the cryptocurrency exchange’s security team in all of 2023.

“This achievement underscores our unwavering commitment to not only protecting our users but also enhancing the overall security of the crypto ecosystem,” said Jimmy Su, Binance’s chief security officer.

Su added: “As observed in recent months, market growth and volatility often lead to an influx of new investors who may be more susceptible to scams and attacks, and higher prices during these periods can result in greater monetary losses.”

Crypto attacks and other losses

Thanks to Binance’s proactive efforts, the exchange has secured the theft of a significant amount of funds in various incidents in the first seven months of the year.

However, according to blockchain security firm Immunefi, the cryptocurrency industry witnessed 72 blackhat hacks, scams, rug pulls, and other exploits in the second quarter of 2024.

Total losses in the quarter alone came to over $572 million, most of which — $564 million across 53 incidents — was related to attacks. Most of the funds were stolen in the two largest hacks — the $305 million hack of Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin and the $55 million hack of Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk.

Notably, the Immunefi report does not include the $230 million attack on India-based WarizX in July. Blockchain security firm Peckshield reported on Aug. 1 that crypto platforms and the DeFi space have lost more than $266 million, including the WazirX attack.

A recent report on crypto crimes by Chainalysis stated that the total stolen funds in the market in 2023 will fall to $24.2 billion, compared to $39.6 billion in 2022.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget has published a report suggesting that deepfakes could account for 70% of AI-enabled crypto crimes in the next two years.