The Hill reported that a suspected hack at Binance prompted cryptocurrency firms to freeze about $3 billion in assets, and that the company said so on Thursday. The report was written by Julia Shapero.
According to The Hill, Binance described the situation as a "security issue" and has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while it conducts security checks, freezes funds and works with law enforcement. The exchange also vowed to cover all losses, the report said.
ABC News reported that Binance estimated the security breach impact at $6.3 billion. Binance said its initial investigation suggests an attacker may have gained access through a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, ABC News said.
BBC News published a video explainer in which business reporter Archana Shukla describes what is suspected to be the largest hack in history. Its headline referred to a $6.3 billion hack.
The reports differ on the size of the figure. The Hill described about $3 billion in frozen assets, while ABC News and BBC News cited $6.3 billion. Neither The Hill, ABC News nor BBC News, as summarized here, explains how the two figures relate.
ABC News described Binance's investigation as initial. The summaries of the three reports do not say when the incident was first identified or whether any frozen funds have been recovered.
Sources: The Hill: Potential Binance 'hack' forces crypto firms to freeze $3 billion; BBC News: What we know about Binance's $6.3bn hack; ABC News: Binance estimates security breach impact at $6.3 billion.