Binance seizes $450,000 stolen in Curve's front-end hack

Quick Take

  • Binance has seized assets worth $450,000 that were stolen during this week’s front-end exploit of Curve.
  • Fixed Float had also frozen 112 ETH ($200,000) deposited by the Curve hacker.

     

 

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said his team seized a large portion of the funds stolen during Tuesday's front-end exploit on Curve.

In an update Zhao said on Twitter that the centralized exchange froze $450,000 in stolen assets, which the Curve hacker had deposited to the exchange.

According to Zhao, the recovered amount is more than 80% of the stolen funds. He added the exchange is now working with law enforcement to help return the assets. Meanwhile, Curve is yet to comment in relation to the recovery of the funds.

“Binance froze/recovered $450k of the Curve stolen funds," Zhao said. "We are working with LE [law enforcement] to return the funds to the users.”

This was the second such seizure of funds tied to the Curve exploit. Previously, The Block reported that Fixed Float, an exchange based on the Lightning Network, had also frozen 112 ETH ($200,000) deposited from the Curve exploiter in a likely attempt to launder the assets. As such, the recovered sum is now up to more than $650,000. 

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On Tuesday, Curve Finance had its front end compromised with a Domain Name Service (DNS) spoof. During this attack, the perpetrator altered Curve's DNS to redirect users to another website, which hosted a malicious contract.

When the unsuspecting users interacted with the contract, it gave the hacker the ability to drain their wallets. After the exploit, the hacker transferred the large majority of the stolen funds to Binance as well as Fixed Float — where they were frozen.

 
 

© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Vishal Chawla is The Block’s crypto ecosystems editor and has spent over six years covering tech protocols, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Vishal likes to delve deep into blockchain intricacies to ensure readers are well-informed about the continuously evolving crypto landscape. He is also a staunch advocate for rigorous security practices in the space. Before joining The Block, Vishal held positions at IDG ComputerWorld, CIO, and Crypto Briefing. He can be reached on Twitter at @vishal4c and via email at [email protected]