Reported by The Guardian
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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 .
More from the original report
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:
double quotation mark Scammers on over drive now. Be careful.
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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:
double quotation mark US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $643 million in net outflows on Friday, their first trading session following the hack. BlackRock’s IBIT saw $233.7 million in outflows, while Fidelity’s FBTC lost $201 million, ARKB $129.5 million, GBTC $53.3 million and BITB $25.7 million. No fund recorded net inflows. ….We’re seeing a similar shift in options trading on Derive.xyz. In the first 12 hours following the hack, put options accounted for 68% of Bitcoin options premiums traded, compared…