Binance, Coinbase and FTX users hacked by false trading bot platforms, CZ says delete API keys

FTX, Binance and Coinbase users have allegedly become victims of a hack using false third party trading bot sites.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao asked traders to delete their API keys, if shared with a third-party trading bot platform.
Analysts believe Binance Coin BNB could plummet to $265.80 under mounting selling pressure from traders.

FTX, Binance and Coinbase account holders who thought they had signed up to use third party trading bots like 3Commas and Skyrex, have allegedly become the victims of a phishing scam in which their exchange API identifiers were stolen by malicious third parties and used to raid their accounts of funds.

Attackers were thought to have used inauthentic websites mocked up to resemble the 3Commas front end to lure account holders to share sensitive information during sign up. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, has asked traders to delete their API keys to protect against any further attacks by third party platforms.

Also read: Breaking: FTX exchange and FTX US allegedly hacked, uninstall app to protect against malware

Binance CEO asks traders to revoke third party access for this reason

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance reported at least three cases of exchange users who shared their API key with third party platforms like Skyrex and 3Commas and observed unexpected trading.

We seen at least 3 cases of users who shared their API key with 3rd party platforms (Skyrex and 3commas), and seen unexpected trading on their accounts. If you used such a platform before, I highly recommend you to delete your API keys just to be safe.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 14, 2022

API keys provide authorization to third parties to access user accounts for trading. On October 21, a Chinese user’s account was drained of millions in Bitcoin, Ethereum and FTT, all stolen by third-party quantitative trading bots.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that FTX users who use quantitative robots for trading like 3Commas were hit by an attack. 3Commas argued that there is no API key leak from the quantitative robot’s end, so it is likely the breach occurred somewhere else.

Colin Wu, a Chinese reporter and his team investigated and found several fake 3Commas websites that were used to phish users by replicating the design of the web interface and capturing API keys from users. The API keys were then stored and used to place unauthorized trades on partner exchanges.

Our previous coverage: Review of the whole process：3Commas API KEY ‘leak’, FTX user funds was stolen by contra trade. While focused on FTX, it also happened subsequently on Binance Coinbase. https://t.co/B9gp2M0Gba https://t.co/pjKkPTaLd9
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 14, 2022

The ideal way to protect against such attacks is to delete API keys shared with third-party platforms. If exchange accounts connected to 3Commas and other quantitative trading robots say that your API key is invalid or requires updating, it is likely that your details were compromised.

Binance Coin could plummet lower under rising selling pressure

Binance Coin is exchanging hands at $268.94, after yielding 21% losses over the past week. Analysts have evaluated the BNBBTC pair and identified mounting selling pressure on Binance’s native token.

Azeez Mustapha, crypto analyst argues that BNB price has more room for decline as the token drops below nine and 21-day moving averages, confirming a downtrend.

BNBBTC price chart

Consequently, traders can expect BNB price to nosedive to support at 0.016, $265.80. Unless strong buying resumes, the expert predicts decline in Binance Coin.

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