Binance recovers $73m in stolen funds

Binance says its security team has managed to recover or freeze over $73 million in funds stolen during crypto hacks and scams.

In an Aug. 8 press release, Binance revealed that the recovered or frozen funds related to external hacks that had occurred across the crypto market as of July 31, 2024. Eighty percent of the funds are from external hacks, thefts, and exploits, while 20% account for funds stolen in crypto scams..

According to Binance, the total of $73 million by July 31 this year surpasses the $55 million that the crypto exchange’s security team recovered in the whole of 2023.

“This achievement underscores our unwavering dedication to protecting not just our users, but also enhancing the overall security of the cryptocurrency ecosystem,” Jimmy Su, chief security officer at Binance, said.

Commenting further, Su added: “Market growth and volatility, as observed in recent months, often bring an influx of new investors who may be more susceptible to scams and hacks, and elevated prices during these periods can result in larger monetary losses.”

Crypto hacks and other loses

Binance’s proactive efforts have seen the exchange secure a notable amount of funds stolen across various incidents in the first seven months of the year.

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

Total losses reached over $572 million during the quarter alone, with most of this—$564 million across 53 incidents—related to hacks. Most of the funds were stolen across two of the largest hacking incidents—the $305 million hack of Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin and the $55 million hack of Turkey-based crypto exchange BtcTurk.

Notably, the Immunefi report did not include the $230 million hack on India-based WarizX, which happened in July. Blockchain security firm Peckshield revealed on Aug. 1 that including the WazirX hack, crypto platforms and the DeFi space lost over $266 million.

A Chainalysis report on crypto crime recently pointed out that total funds stolen across the market in 2023 dropped to $24.2 billion, compared to $39.6 billion in 2022.

Meanwhile, crypto exchange Bitget released a report suggesting artificial intelligence could see deepfakes account for 70% of crypto crimes in the next two years.