BtcTurk Cyberattack: $54 Million in Avalanche Tokens Stolen, Binance Assists in Investigation

by Pooja Chauhan · 22/06/2024

Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk hit by cyberattack, losing $54 million in Avalanche tokens. Binance helps recover $5.3 million. Learn more about the incident.

Bollywood Fever: Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk announced that a cyberattack affected the cryptocurrency stored in ten of its hot wallets following reports of suspicious transfers of Avalanche (AVAX) tokens on Saturday. The exchange noted that its cold wallets, which contain the vast majority of its assets, remain secure and the company remains solvent, according to the company’s announcement.

Binance CEO Richard Teng announced on X that his company, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is assisting BtcTurk with the investigation and has frozen “over $5.3 million in stolen funds so far.”

Binance is assisting BtcTurk with investigations and have frozen over $5.3M in stolen funds so far.

Our investigations & security teams work around the clock as part of our proactive efforts to protect the ecosystem from bad actors. We will provide further updates as relevant. https://t.co/8j6uMgOPm6
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) June 22, 2024

Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT said that suspicious transfers of about $54 million in Avalanche tokens were likely connected to the attack following the results of a timing analysis. The funds were transferred to exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase using THORChain and then withdrawn as Bitcoin to two separate wallets, ZachXBT noted, in large transactions that occurred around the same time as BtcTurk’s disclosure of the attack.

In addition, the relevant Avalanche wallet had been previously identified by a blockchain researcher as belonging to a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange, lending credence to the connection between BtcTurk and the Avalanche transfers.

Furthermore, ZachXBT stated on Telegram that online casino Sportsbet “was likely hacked for $3.5M+ by the same threat actor as BtcTurk two hours before as funds from the thefts comingled.” Sportsbet was unable to be immediately reached for comment by The Block, but a message on Sportsbet’s homepage states that “transactions on BTC and BSC networks are currently unavailable as well as gameplay with BTC and BNB” in a message under the heading “Cashier Maintenance.”