In response to a prominent user of Binance identified as Carlos, the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao has vowed to disable all API keys that facilitated the sudden hike of AXS. In a tweet today, Changpeng Zhao divulged that he’s working on best way to identify the API keys to put an end to all malicious activities that took place on Carlos’s account.
Yesterday afternoon, AXS experienced a sudden pump of about 200% which only lasted for a few minutes. The sudden rally of the token gained attention in the market, leaving many to wonder about the triggers behind it. However, a tweet by the trader (Carlos), revealed that a breach of his account on Binance led to the sudden pump.
In the tweet, the trader explained that someone somehow bought a million dollars worth of AXS on his Binance account. However, Carlos claimed that he had multiple security levels on his account, claiming nobody could access it except him.
How Binance Boss intervened
Further, his tweet attracted the attention of Changpeng Zhao, who asked if Carlos shared his API key with Skyrex, 3commas or some other third-party platform. The CEO urged Carlos to remove the access straight away to control the situation. Meanwhile, these interactions took place on Twitter yesterday afternoon.
Later today, Changpeng Zhao tweeted that Carlos said the malicious order of AXS took place because of his API key leakage. Additionally, the Binance boss said Carlos has only one active API key he used on Skyrex. Consequently, leading to the promise of identifying and disabling the keys.
Explaining API keys and the implication of it’s leakage
API keys is an acronym for Application Programming Interface. API basically improvise the group of regulations that describes how two applications interact with one another. In cryptocurrency trading, an API aids traders to connect with their exchange, offering them access to live market data, management of their accounts and other trading activities.
Most times, the creation of an API key provides a public and secret key to access a crypto exchange like Binance at the API level. At the inception of the creation, the keys will be revealed, then, if the user refreshes the page, the keys will be concealed for security reasons.
In Carlos’s case, the manipulator used the price-boosting technique through the API keys. This refers to the deposition of a less prominent coin with a low trading volume to its third-party account. They then sell it back to the victim at a higher rate. The activity on Carlos’s trading account on Binance led to the sudden hike of the AXS token.
Read More: