Report: 18,270 Bitcoin Moved to 19 Wallets Amid Fallout From Binance Incident
Key Facts
18,270 Bitcoin was moved to 19 wallets, according to a CoinDesk blockchain-tracking report, in a new development in the security incident that Binance said had an estimated total impact of about $6.3 billion. The report said 17 of the recipient wallets each held 1,000 Bitcoin. CoinDesk published the details on October 30, while Binance said in its update that, working with blockchain partners, it had frozen about $3 billion in assets linked to the incident. The transfers alone do not establish who carried them out or why. The Associated Press estimated that Bitcoin fell 3.2% on Thursday evening to below $79,000, as the market reacted to the broader fallout from the incident.
Binance said its initial investigation indicated a laptop belonging to an engineer on the development operations team may have been compromised, allowing an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. The company added that it had found no evidence that private wallet keys had been leaked. The explanation remains preliminary pending completion of the investigation and verification of the facts, the company said. Binance did not confirm in its final statement the identity of the party behind the transfers cited in the CoinDesk report. The agency said Binance had not explicitly confirmed by Thursday evening that funds had been stolen, although it then estimated the impact at more than $6 billion.
Binance said it would cover losses from the SAFU fund and company funds, adding that user funds were safe. The company had temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals to conduct security checks, and said it was working with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover the funds. It also said it had revoked authorization for the affected address as part of its response to the incident. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said, according to the Associated Press, that he expected, as a shareholder, that user balances would be covered in full. The company pledged to publish an updated proof of reserves after remediation was complete.
The Associated Press reported that Circle said it had frozen more than $800 million in currencies linked to the incident in coordination with law enforcement. Tether’s chief executive also said the company had frozen the equivalent of more than $1.5 billion linked to a possible Binance breach. Binance’s update put the estimate for assets frozen on-chain at about $3 billion, within a total estimated impact of about $6.3 billion. These figures reflect estimates and announcements from the companies and parties involved; they do not mean that the full estimated impact has been frozen or recovered. Binance did not specify in its statement how much of the funds associated with each transfer could be recovered.
In the market, the Associated Press said Bitcoin fell 3.2% on Thursday evening, October 29, to below $79,000. BTCUSD closed at $77,991.89 that day, according to EL7 data, and then at $78,285.30 on October 30. In a separate update carried by Reuters via MarketScreener, Bitcoin touched a six-week low and was down 3% at $76,469.82 at the time of the report. Coinbase shares also fell 4.8% in extended U.S. trading, according to the same source. These moves put market volatility in the context of the incident, without the sources attributing the decline solely to the Bitcoin transfers.
Binance said it would publish a detailed technical review after the investigation was complete and the facts had been verified, and would update its proof of reserves once remediation was finished. The company did not specify a date for publishing the review or reopening deposits and withdrawals in the update included in the evidence. Binance said it was continuing to work with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover the funds. What is released later will be tied to clarifying how the incident occurred and the extent of the affected assets, in line with the company’s pledge to publish details after the investigation is complete. Until then, the transfers to new wallets remained part of the announced tracking effort, with no independent confirmation of who made them or why.