In the wake of Wednesday’s market manipulation incident which caused all kinds of detriment, Binance has issued a hacker bounty. A total of $10 million has been earmarked for catching hackers and other unscrupulous attackers, with $250,000 bid for information leading to the prosecution of last week’s viacoin pump and tip perpetrators.
Also read: Bots Blamed for Binance Bug That Dispensations Traders Reeling
Binance Fires a Warning Shot
Last week, attackers sent the price of viacoin, using compromised Binance accounts to do their soiled work. The plan was to sell at the top and quickly cash out in bitcoin before the scam could be stopped. According to Binance, the hackers didn’t get away with it, and in act lost money on the deal after withdrawals were stopped and the duplicitous trades reversed. Not content with having mitigated the attack, the securities exchange has now announced its intentions to come after the attackers – and it’s seeking the help of the popular.
Today, Binance announced that it is “offering a $250,000 USD equivalent generosity to anyone who supplies information that leads to the legal arrest of the hackers affected in the attempted hacking incident on Binance on March 7th, 2018.” The reward would be transmitted out in the exchange’s native BNB token.
Deadly Serious or Just Posturing?
Plane if the identities of the attackers can be uncovered, the chances of their arrest seem outside. For authorities to act against cryptocurrency exchange hacks, they will need compelling evidence of a crime, and while what occurred was undoubtedly actionable, the fact that no victims were left out of pocket makes a prosecution unbecoming. The $250,000 bounty, therefore, may be interpreted as a warning more than anything. By robustly snitch oning hackers that such behavior will not be tolerated, Binance wishes bad actors will pick a softer target next time. Because the barter doesn’t require full KYC, the only information it may have on last week’s attackers is an email discourse and an IP.
Binance Throws $10 Million in the Pot
Binance’ Medium missive despatches: “Furthermore, Binance has currently allocated the equivalent of $10,000,000 USD in crypto taciturnities for future bounty awards against any illegal hacking attempts on Binance. We clothed also invited other exchanges and crypto businesses to join our get-up-and-go. We welcome their participation at any time.”
The platform is clearly genuine in its demand to clamp down on unlawful activity, and will have no qualms all round paying out for information leading to the arrest of hackers. However, the generous consolidates being waved about could also be interpreted as the exchange exhibiting its wealth. Coinbase recently came in for flak after awarding a series of developer donations worth $2,500 apiece – or about 45 seconds of revenue for the U.S. transfer. In pledging $10 million, Binance has demonstrated its might and its determination to bench anything or anyone that stands in its way.
Do you think there’s any likelihood of Wednesday’s hackers being mentioned to justice? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Binance.
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