Exchanges Roundup: Binance ‘Very Healthy’ Despite Volume Drop, Gate.io Breached

In cryptocurrency exchange news, Binance’s CEO has described the exchange as “very healthy” despite the dramatic reduction in trade volume compared with early 2018, and Gate.io was recently breached via a malicious script added to web analytics provider Statcounter. Also, a South Korean ICO raising money for a crypto exchange desk appears to have pulled a $2.73 million exit scam.

Also Read: Korean Exchange Terminating After Regulator Crackdown

Binance Unphased by Dwindling Volume

Speaking to CNBC, CZ, the chief executive officer of the largest exchange by volume, Binance, recently discussed the declining trade volume posted throughout the current cryptocurrency bear market.

Despite volume dropping by roughly 50 percent month-over-month, CZ emphasized that although volume had reduced by “90 percent” since January, “we are trading huge volume … compared to one year or two years ago,” adding: “Business is still ok .. we are still profitable … we are still a very healthy business.”

Regarding the onboarding of new traders, CZ stated: “To be honest … it’s not as fast as in January or February when it was … a very crazy period … We are still signing up a steady amount of new users every day, from what we are seeing it’s very healthy.”

Gate.io Breached via Analytics Site

Cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io was recently breached via web analytics platform Statcounter. According to Alexa, Gatecoin.io is ranked as the 26,251st most popular website globally, and is ranked 8,308 in China. In the last 24 hours, Gate.io has a total trade volume of approximately 3,484 BTC.

Attackers modified a script hosted by Statcounter, adding a piece of malicious code in the middle of the script to decrease the likelihood of detection. The code appears to have been designed to target Gate.io specifically, as it contains “myaccount/withdraw/BTC”, with reports asserting that Gate.io was the only cryptocurrency exchange live at the time of the attack that hosted a valid page containing ‘myaccount/withdraw/BTC’ in its URL.

Statcounter removed the malicious script once it was notified of the breach. Several hours beforehand, Gate.io ceased using Statcounter’s analytics services. The number of BTC stolen from Gate.io users is not known.

Pure Bit Pulls Exit Scam

South Korean cryptocurrency company Pure Bit appears to have conducted an exit scam which has seen it walk away with $2.73 million in customer funds.

The company recently raised 13,000 ETH through an initial coin offering to create a ‘mining coin’ and a cryptocurrency exchange desk. All of the funds raised have since been transferred from the company’s wallet, with reports asserting that the company also took down its website and social media platforms several hours after emptying its wallet. Pure Bit’s website now shows a blank page.

Do you think that the current trade volume can sustain the operations of the hundreds of active cryptocurrency exchanges? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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