the daily grind

Binance Says 'No Wallet Private Key Leak.' It Didn't Need One: A DevOps Engineer's Laptop Moved $6.3 Billion

Binance was drained in the largest crypto hack on record on October 29. Binance puts the total impact at about $6.3 billion and says a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop let the attacker reach a service container and submit withdrawals. About $3B has been frozen, most of it stablecoins. Before the freezes landed, the attacker used stolen USDT as Aave collateral to borrow roughly 20,000 WETH. TRM Labs ties it to North Korea's TraderTraitor. Deposits and withdrawals are suspended.

Oct 30, 2026 · 6 min read

The SEC Just Told Fund Managers They Can Hold Your Crypto Keys Themselves. The Catch: Every Quarter They Have to Write Down That Nobody Else Will

Oct 2, 2026 · 6 min read

On October 1 the SEC proposed a crypto custody framework for investment advisers and regulated funds. Advisers could self-custody client crypto if they document, before they start and every quarter after, that no permitted custodian will hold the asset. Transfers need two people to sign off, every client gets a separate address, and state-chartered trust companies become qualified custodians. Three years ago the Gensler-era SEC proposed a custody rule that would have pushed advisers toward banks and broker-dealers. It was withdrawn in June 2025. The new one landed a day before the commission shrinks to two members.

Last Week Manhattan Prosecutors Moved to Seize $61M of Iranian Oil Money That Ran Through Binance. This Week They're Investigating Binance

Sep 22, 2026 · 6 min read

Bloomberg reports the Manhattan US Attorney's office, with DOJ's Criminal Division, is investigating whether Binance knowingly let trading that violated Iran sanctions continue on its platform. It lands seven days after the same office filed to forfeit $61 million in Iranian oil proceeds laundered through Binance accounts, and seven months after the Wall Street Journal reported Binance's own compliance team flagged $1.7 billion flowing from Chinese clients to Iran-linked wallets. Binance already pleaded guilty and paid $4.3 billion for this exact category of failure in 2023. Its founder was pardoned in October. Here is what a second case would mean.

Binance Says 'No Wallet Private Key Leak.' It Didn't Need One: A DevOps Engineer's Laptop Moved $6.3 Billion

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