BingX announced on October 24th that all its services have been fully restored following the hot wallet incident on September 20th. The centralized exchange has also introduced a new upgraded firewall for its wallet, ShieldX, to enhance user fund security and better defend against external attacks.
The exchange immediately suspended deposits and withdrawals upon discovering suspicious activities in its hot wallet. BingX subsequently resumed deposits in stages, with the first phase launched on September 21st. This process continued until October 8th, when the exchange announced the resumption of deposits for over 600 cryptocurrencies available on its platform.
It is estimated that the BingX hot wallet incident has compromised user funds totaling over $43 million. However, the exchange’s team has not confirmed the amount and stated that the losses are minimal and can be covered with its capital. BingX also insists that the majority of user funds are stored in cold wallets. Some users are skeptical of this report and have requested more transparency from the exchange.
Blockchain security company Peckfield first reported the incident, urging BingX to investigate suspicious activities possibly originating from hackers. Peckfield confirmed a transaction worth about $13.6 million involving an Ethereum address. BingX initiated an emergency action to contain the significant losses by conducting asset transfers and halting all transactions.
BingX reassures its commitment to security to users. Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer of BingX, stated that the exchange has been dedicated to improving user protection. Lin also emphasized the need for swift recovery following events like the one on September 20th.
“The rapid response from BingX highlights our commitment to safeguarding user assets. Trust, efficiency, and transparency are at the core of our approach. The launch of ‘ShieldX’ represents a crucial step in proactively strengthening platform defenses,” said Vivien Lin, Chief Product Officer of BingX.
Lin further reiterated that the exchange’s top priority is to initiate continuous development and partnerships to enhance the platform. Lin confirmed plans to establish partnerships with industry leaders to set higher security standards for the cryptocurrency world.
The exchange also guarantees collaboration with top security companies to enhance threat monitoring for rapid vulnerability detection. BingX also revealed that the platform will undergo frequent audits. The platform mentioned the introduction of a bug bounty program that rewards participants contributing to improved security.
Reports from blockchain and web3 security companies indicate a significant increase in blockchain vulnerability exploitation in 2024. According to blockchain security company Cyvers, hacker incidents cost users over $2.1 billion in 2024. This figure is significantly higher than the total of $1.69 billion for the entire year of 2023. The company also stated that there were over 130 vulnerability exploitation incidents in 2024, comparable to the 44 incidents in 2023. The report confirms that centralized finance suffers greater losses compared to decentralized finance.
CetriK reports in its third-quarter report that losses recorded in 2024 so far have reached $2 billion. The report identifies Ethereum as the primary target of attacks this year. In the third quarter, attackers stole over $750 million from crypto addresses, and crypto phishing scams resulted in losses of over $46 million. The losses for Ethereum amounted to approximately $383 million.
