{"id":104200,"date":"2019-05-08T11:11:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T18:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=104200"},"modified":"2026-05-02T08:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T07:42:34","slug":"binance-faces-criticism-rollback-bitcoin-blockchain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/binance-faces-criticism-rollback-bitcoin-blockchain\/","title":{"rendered":"Binance faces criticism for considering rollback of the Bitcoin blockchain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has suffered a hack on May 7th where it lost over $40 million in Bitcoin<\/a>. The exchange's CEO, Changpeng Zhao<\/a>, considered pursuing a rollback of the Bitcoin blockchain, which sparked mass outrage on social media and was followed by a drop in\u00a0Binance's<\/a> BNB coin.<\/a><\/p>\n

Binance Suffers Large Scale Security Breach<\/h2>\n

Binance<\/a>, one of the largest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has suffered a major security breach<\/a> on May 7th, the company revealed<\/a> in a statement. The exchange said that malicious actors were able to access user API keys, two-factor authentication codes, and \u201cpotentially other info.”<\/p>\n

Hackers were then able to withdraw more than 7,000 bitcoin, worth roughly $41 million, to a single wallet<\/a>. Binance said that despite the large amount stolen, the theft only impacted around 2 percent of its total bitcoin holdings and that all of their other wallets remained “secure and unharmed.”<\/p>\n

The company apologized to its users and took responsibility for not blocking the malicious withdrawal before it was executed. All losses will be covered by Binance's secure asset fund for users<\/a> (SAFU), so no users will be affected by the theft.<\/p>\n

However, all deposits and withdrawals will remain suspended until the company's internal investigation is complete, the statement said, adding that trading will remain open and available to all users.<\/p>\n

Calls for Rollback Criticized by the Crypto Community<\/h2>\n

Changpeng Zhao<\/a> (CZ), the CEO of the exchange, gave more details about the hack on Periscope. According to TechCrunch, he said<\/a> that the attack was a very advanced effort executed by \u201cvery patient\u201d hackers who waited until they had a number of high net worth accounts.<\/p>\n

When asked about issuing a rollback, Zhao said that Binance could do it within the next few days. However, in a separate tweet, he said<\/a> that after speaking with several high-profile cryptocurrency experts, the company decided not to pursue a rollback.<\/p>\n

He then went on to list several pros<\/a> and cons<\/a>\u00a0from the consultations, which included input from Jihan Wu<\/a>, the co-founder of Bitmain<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

After speaking with various parties, including @JeremyRubin<\/a>, @_prestwich<\/a>, @bcmakes<\/a>, @hasufl<\/a>, @JihanWu<\/a> and others, we decided NOT to pursue the re-org approach. Considerations being:<\/p>\n

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 8, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n