- Binance is building a $1 billion insurance war chest to counter a slew of recent crypto hacks, Bloomberg reported.
- The crypto exchange has been setting aside emergency funds since 2018, and this fund is just a consolidation of those resources.
- Meanwhile, Binance on January 29 restricted 281 personal Nigerian accounts with some at the request of law enforcement.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
Binance Holdings is building a $1 billion insurance war chest to counter a slew of recent cryptocurrency hacks against its trading platform, Bloomberg first reported Monday, citing an internal memo.
The world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume has been setting aside emergency funds since 2018, Bloomberg reported, and this recent fund is just a consolidation of those resources.
"At Binance we always said 'funds are safe,' and today the Binance Secure Asset Fund size acts as an effective safeguard as well as protection for users against such unlikely issues," CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said in the internal memo.
Trading platforms have recently been targeted by hackers as digital asset investing enters the mainstream.
Earlier this month, Singapore-based Crypto.com confirmed that about 500 of its customer accounts were hacked. Unauthorized withdrawals totaled 4,836.26 in ether, 443.93 in bitcoin, and approximately $66,200 in other currencies, the exchange said in a blog post.
The anonymous nature of crypto transactions has been a source of attraction and frustration for various stakeholders. Regulators have said this boosts crypto-related crimes, including money laundering and terrorism financing.
Meanwhile, Binance announced January 29 that it's restricting 281 personal accounts in Nigeria, with approximately 38% of these at the request of international law enforcement.
Users in the African nation continue to use the platform to trade crypto despite the central bank prohibiting transactions on crypto exchanges last year.
"Protection mechanisms such as know your customer, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected," Binance said in a statement. "This is a global approach applied in every country."
