Binance Recovers Majority Funds Stolen in Curve Finance Hack

“The hacker kept on sending the funds to Binance in different ways, thinking we can’t catch it,” CEO Changpeng Zhao said

article-image

Binance’s Changpeng Zhao

share

key takeaways

  • Compared to protocol exploits, the losses suffered as a result of the DNS hijack are relatively small
  • Both operational security and technical security of DeFi dapps is expected to improve

Binance managed to freeze or recover a majority of the funds that hackers stole from DeFi protocol Curve Finance this week, the exchange’s CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Friday.

Zhao said in a tweet that the exchange is working with law enforcement authorities to return funds to users. Curve retweeted Zhao’s post, an apparent confirmation of the development.

Loading Tweet..

Curve — the fourth largest DeFi (decentralized finance) protocol with about $6 billion in total value locked (TVL) — was struck by a security incident on Aug. 9, leading it to warn users against using its website. About $570,000 worth of tokens were believed to be stolen in the hack.

Unlike protocol exploits, the culprits took advantage of shortcomings in the security of online service providers — in this case, Curve’s domain name system (DNS). A DNS maps readable website names to IP addresses.

Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at GlobalBlock, said the hackers modified the IP address translated by the DNS for the curve.fi website. They provided the IP address of their own server and created an identical web application, he said in a note, allowing them to create new smart contracts to steal money. Users were approving transactions that were actually stealing their funds.

In the past two years, such attacks have become prevalent in the crypto industry as thieves search for ways to part crypto users from their funds.

Last month, infrastructure provider Ankr was hit with a social engineering-instigated DNS attack.

“This is an example of how important it is for users within DeFi to be fully educated on the protocols they use,” Sotiriou said.

“People could have protected themselves if they checked all the smart contracts they interact with,” he said.

But this is beyond the technical know-how of a vast majority of DeFi users, according to Teddy Woodward, co-founder of Notional Finance.

“The average retail user is not going to review the smart contracts they interact with [but] I think it is reasonable for larger or more professional users like businesses and funds to make an effort there, and many do,” Woodward told Blockworks, adding that over time, the safety of DeFi protocols has been consistently trending upward.

Each exploit hardens dapps and makes them safer for the average user.

“I think about it like plane travel,” Woodward said. “That used to be extremely dangerous, now it’s safer than driving a car.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Silk Road founder Ulbricht made a triumphant return to the Bitcoin Conference, 10 years on from sentencing

article-image

A Blockworks Research report looked at who could take up some of the marketshare in the launchpad space

article-image

Business-to-business stablecoin payments are on the rise, per a report from Artemis, Dragonfly and Castle Island

article-image

Crypto continues to do its thing: incentivizing behavior

article-image

Kraken will soon offer Backed ‘xStocks’ as Solana tokens

article-image

In a unanimous decision, the US Court of International Trade has ruled that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are unlawful