New Details of the Binance Hack: $200 Million USDT Leak

Binance transferred $200 million in USDT to a compromised wallet, from which the hacker instantly withdrew the funds. The incident revealed critical vulnerabilities in the platform's access control system.

Attack Mechanism

The compromised Binance 14 wallet had management rights over an additional address, Binance 34. This allowed attackers to control the movement of funds between accounts. For four hours, client money was flowing into the compromised address without their knowledge.

Preparation and Execution

The attack was prepared in advance: since October 28, wallets were replenished via the Tornado Cash mixer. Hackers tested the EIP-7702 mechanism before the main incident. Tether failed to block 6 out of the 11 addresses involved.

• The attackers were willing to pay an additional ~20% for Ethereum to ensure rapid conversion.
• In 35 minutes, $435 million in USDT was exchanged for 160,451 ETH.

The incident occurred two days after Binance announced it had thwarted an attack by North Korean hackers using the Contagious Interview scheme.