Yesterday, one of the largest exchanges in the world was successfully hacked. As a result, Binance lost 7,000 BTC in one transaction.
Have you lost your way @roleerob? "Why on earth would you let us know about this in a 'Celebrating Good Business' post?"
Fair question. Read on please!
The Rest of the Story ...
Immediately following what you see above, we read this:
"The above transaction is the only affected transaction."
"Once executed, the withdrawal triggered various alarms in our system. We stopped all withdrawals immediately after that. "
Emphasis added is mine. While very unfortunate the hackers had success, it was still limited to one transaction. That is good news, considering the outcome reported on other successful exchange hacks. The hackers presumably were sophisticated enough to realize this might be the outcome and appear to have made the most of it.
Round number calc: At ~$5,900 USD per BTC currently, they made off with +$41M USD. Clearly they knew what they were doing ...
There is more ...
"Binance will use the #SAFU fund to cover this incident in full. No user funds will be affected."
Emphasis added is theirs. To continue with the good news, Binance is sound enough in their business practices to have set aside funding to "make whole" any of their customers who may have suffered loss. 👍
And finally ...
"In this difficult time, we strive to maintain transparency and would be appreciative of your support."
Emphasis added is mine. Even with the potential impact of very bad news, Binance is sound enough in their ethical standards to be "straight up" in making this situation known. 👍 👍
That is worth a great deal to this investor. So ... What do we do now?
Protect Yourself!
As a result of this huge loss, we read this about what Binance is currently doing ...
"We must conduct a thorough security review. The security review will include all parts of our systems and data, which is large. We estimate this will take about ONE WEEK. We will post updates frequently as we progress."
"Most importantly, deposits and withdrawals will need to REMAIN SUSPENDED during this period of time. We beg for your understanding in this difficult situation."
Emphasis added is mine. In their "post mortem" efforts, I am confident Binance will leave "no stone unturned" to find the source of their security gap(s) and redouble their resulting efforts to make their exchange "bulletproof."
I don't know what more I could ask. As a result, they will retain my support as one of their customers. I believe the best centralized exchange will become even better for this experience.
But ... In the face of the seemingly never ending challenges in today's world, we must remain vigilant ...
To finish this post, it cannot be said too often that we are all strongly encouraged to never leave any significant "digital asset" class funds on any exchange.
I have consistently and diligently followed this advice. I do not myself have significant digital assets on Binance. Or any other exchange. While a major headache at times, I have them transferred them out into their respective wallets.
Image Source: Ledger Home PageNot only that, but as much as possible (getting better week by week ...) I have them in wallets secured by the "best of breed" Ledger hardware wallets. I have written about Ledger in the past, if interested. Links provided below.
Closing
This news represented a sobering reminder to me of the risks involved in my choosing to invest in the "digital asset" class. As part of that, we must routinely remind ourselves of the relative "immaturity" of this market. It is getting better month by month, but ... It has a long way to go.
I have chosen to accept this risk as part of the greater profit potential associated with it, but that does not make it any easier to face the prospect of huge loss.
Life is tough and how businesses handle the inevitable difficulties separates the great ones from the "wannabees." I consider how Binance handled this major event an excellent example of how it should be done.
We can all hope someday news of this sort will be in the past. In the meantime, I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.
Until "next time," all the best to you for an even better tomorrow, as we all work together to build our Steem Community! 👍 😊
Respectfully,
Steemian @roleerob
Posted using SteemPeak and “immutably enshrined in the blockchain” on Wednesday, 8 May 2019!
Interested in reading more of my “good business” posts? Great!
- Essential Foundation for Good Business – One of my first Steem posts, covers what I believe to be essential to good business!
- Business Review: Great Maker of Backlit LED Pictures – Covers a good business and great memory. Owner said it "brought tears to my eyes" upon reading it. Indirectly led to my "discovery" by the @pifc community!
- Business Review: Great Creator of GIF Images - @skyleap! - Covers my experience with a wonderful Steemian from "the other side of the world," who created my closing post image!
- Celebrating Good Business: 👌 Latest from Ledger! 👍 - Covers a memorable experience with a great company turning "lemons into lemonade!"
