Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, froze $4.2 million worth of XRP tokens in connection with the theft of over $112 million from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen this week.
Binance has pledged ongoing support to track down the missing funds, although this is only a small fraction of the amount misused.
TLDR
- Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has frozen $4.2 million worth of XRP tokens linked to the $120 million hack of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s personal wallet.
- Binance is working with Ripple to monitor external wallets that still hold most of the stolen funds in case more funds are deposited into Binance.
- The exploit was initially incorrectly reported as targeting Ripple itself, but was later revealed to only affect Larsen’s personal XRP account.
- Ripple is now leading ongoing investigation and tracking efforts after receiving all relevant data from the XRP Ledger Foundation.
- Of the total $112 million worth of XRP stolen so far, only about 3.75% has been frozen, with the majority still frozen as Ripple continues its investigation.
Binance CEO Richard Teng said Thursday that his company acted quickly to shut down accounts involved in the hack after receiving an alert from developers of the XRP Ledger blockchain, which powers XRP. Larson himself said on Wednesday that he had seen “unauthorized access” to some of his personal XRP accounts.
After early discovery of the exploit in @rippleWe are delighted. #Binance The team succeeded in freezing $4.2 million worth of funds. $XRP It was stolen by exploiters.
As always, we appreciate the efforts of both communities to report this to the exchange. @zachxbt…
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) February 1, 2024
After forensic investigators identified the perpetrator’s wallet address, Binance tracked down where the hack occurred and froze the deposits. $4.2 million represents just 3.75% of the $213 million in XRP stolen during the long-running hacking campaign.
Teng initially incorrectly framed the incident as having a direct impact on Ripple, as opposed to Larsen’s personal finances, but his company remains committed to supporting the investigation. Binance pledged to closely monitor the anonymous hacker’s external wallet, which holds most of the stolen XRP, in case the assets were transferred to the platform.
In the aftermath, responsibility for continuing the exploit investigation shifted to Ripple. Larsen’s company was provided with all relevant information from the
Little is publicly known about the sophisticated attack that depleted Larsen’s XRP holdings over an extended period of time before it was detected. Despite rumors of potential insider work, Larsen used typical data breach language, labeling it “unauthorized access.”
News of the theft of nine-figure XRP also recorded a modest gain over the 24-hour period compared to modest losses for the overall cryptocurrency market.
As for the affected leader Larsen, he remains an XRP billionaire even after the massive hack occurred thanks to his remaining token stores. However, this episode highlights the unique security challenges key figures and creators in the cryptocurrency industry face as targets for lucrative hacks.