Binance, a leading crypto exchange, has now announced plans to help Ripple recover some stolen funds. Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s accounts have shocked the crypto community. The exchange said it froze about $4.2 million of the hacked XRP.
Binance CEO Richard Teng acknowledged the work of crypto investigator ZachXBT in uncovering the Ripple hack. Teng praised Ripple’s collaboration with exchanges like Binance. He announced Binance’s move to freeze the stolen XRP funds. “The Binance team froze $4.2 million of the XRP stolen by the hacker,” wrote Teng.
ZachXBT first revealed the massive XRP theft, hinting at an attack on Ripple. Per his tweet, Ripple saw 213 million XRP stolen, worth $112.5 million. But Chris Larsen later shared the hack hit his accounts, not Ripple’s.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reiterated the Ripple wallets were safe. Larsen agreed, saying the Ripple wallets were not compromised. With this move, Binance aims to support a “safe ecosystem.” While aiding Ripple’s recovery efforts, Teng said Binance will keep monitoring the hacker’s external wallets. This is in case more stolen funds arrive at Binance.
Binance Halts $6M XRP Hack, Urges Cross-Platform Coordination
The crypto community has seen Binance’s enthusiasm for assisting troubled projects before. In Feb 2023, it aided Norwegian authorities to retrieve $6 million stolen from Ronin. Binance also helped Huobi combat the Harmony hackers, who took $2.4 million in BTC.
Larsen praised Binance for freezing the funds. He said Binance sent “a strong message” to hackers. But he added recovery efforts are still ongoing. The hack shocked many in the XRP Army who backed Ripple and XRP. But most seem confident Ripple will recover from this attack.
Crypto lawyer John Deaton said Ripple and Larsen took “swift action” against the hacker. He expects exchanges to help identify the perpetrator. Meanwhile, XRPL Monitor creator Wietse Wind helped track the hacker’s moves. He alerted exchanges as funds moved to new wallets.
Experts say it’s crucial to coordinate across platforms during hacks. Exchanges must act fast before funds disappear. But they also caution against overreacting during incidents. The XRP hack comes as crypto faces growing regulatory heat. Some officials may use it to further crypto restrictions. But most observers view the hack as a one-off event, not a sign of systemic issues.
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