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Binance Hack First Drained XRP, With $296 Million Moved Out in 4 Minutes
In the $6 billion Binance hack, XRP was the first asset stolen. About $296 million worth of XRP moved from five Binance wallets to one address in four minutes on Oct. 29, and $6 billion more followed.
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What happened
In the $6 billion Binance hack, XRP was the first asset stolen. About $296 million worth of XRP moved from five Binance wallets to one address in four minutes on Oct. 29, and $6 billion more followed.
Confirmed
Global impact / market context
The theft removes coins directly from an exchange, so affected customers and the exchange face losses and recovery problems. Because XRP has no issuer freeze function, stolen XRP cannot simply be blocked the way Ripple blocked part of its RLUSD stablecoin.
Analyst inference
The hack touched several major crypto assets and moved across nine blockchains, which spreads concern beyond one token. Exchange security and the limits of freezing stolen assets become central issues for holders, traders and the companies that issue or support these coins.
Analyst inference
What to watch
- Ripple froze the remaining 40.5 million RLUSD on Ethereum after attackers sold 48 million of the 88.5 million RLUSD they stole, which may limit further losses for that stablecoin. Confirmed
- Tracing the stolen XRP and other assets across nine blockchains could shape whether exchanges, issuers or law enforcement can recover funds or block sales of the stolen coins. Analyst inference
- How Binance handles customer losses and protects wallet balances will matter for trust, trading activity and the cost of security measures at exchanges holding large amounts of customer crypto. Analyst inference
Affected assets
- USDT — Tether
- XRP — XRP
- SOL — Solana
- BTC — Bitcoin
- ETH — Ethereum