Theory Contradicted
The Ethereum authorizations were phished
Early indicators on the Ethereum activity suggested the attacker had phished the authorizations, according to TRM Labs and Hacken.
This is a theory, not an established fact. First seen . Updated .
What the evidence does and does not show
Both firms said this would explain Ethereum but none of the other chains. TRM Labs says wallets on the other nine chains sent funds through ordinary signed transfers. Blockaid's CEO and later analyses point to a compromise of the signing system, not a leaked key. Binance says it found no evidence of a private key leak. No source in the sources captured as of 2026-11-01 now defends the phishing explanation.
Evidence
Evidence for (2)
Early signs on Ethereum pointed to phishing of the authorizations, which could explain Ethereum but none of the other chains.
Hacken. Captured . Original
Note: Hacken: early signs pointed to phishing.
Early indicators on the Ethereum activity suggested the attacker had phished the authorizations. That explanation covers Ethereum and leaves the other chains unexplained.
TRM Labs, TRM Labs. Captured . Original
Note: TRM: early indicators suggested phishing.
Evidence against (4)
The most likely explanation is that the attacker gained the ability to make Binance's hot wallet signing system sign transactions of its choosing across chains.
Hacken. Captured . Original
Note: Most likely the signing system signed.
Eleven Binance hot-wallet keys signed transfers to an address created minutes earlier, and one of them signed an EIP-7702 authorization that turned its wallet into standing infrastructure for the attacker.
blockaid.io. Captured . Original
Note: Eleven hot-wallet keys signed transfers.
Binance wallets on the other nine chains sent funds to the attacker through ordinary signed transfers.
TRM Labs, TRM Labs. Captured . Original
Note: Other chains used ordinary signed transfers.
a compromise of signing infrastructure. We don’t think a key was leaked,” he said.
Ido Ben-Natan, Cointelegraph. Captured . Original
Note: Blockaid's CEO: signing infrastructure compromised, key not leaked.
Context (1)
Binance says it found no evidence that a private key leaked, while investigators say Binance's signing system signed for the attacker, and the two statements can both be true.
Hacken. Captured . Original
Note: No key leak and a compromised signing system can both be true.