Binance CEO Warns Crypto Holders and Traders

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has alerted people about the growing risk of online scams called phishing. He advises that people using cryptocurrency exchanges should secure their accounts with hardware devices for two-step verification, such as Yubikey, instead of their mobile phones. 

This warning was made after Uniswap founder Hayden Adams' Twitter account was hacked on July 20. The hacker tried to trick his followers by posting a harmful link. People who follow cryptocurrency on Twitter spotted this and alerted others quickly. Adams regained control of his account after a few hours. 

Online scams, known as social engineering attacks, are becoming more common in the cryptocurrency industry. In early July, the CEO of LayerZero, Bryan Pellegrino, had his Twitter account taken over by hackers in a scam called a SIM swap attack. This happened after he threw away his speaker badge at a conference. 

Experts in blockchain security warn that these types of online scams, like SIM swap attacks, could become more frequent soon. According to the top security officer at SlowMist, "23pds", executing a SIM swap doesn't need advanced technical abilities. 

After Adams said he had control of his Twitter again, 23pds referenced an article about SIM swap attacks. He said that one way to protect against a SIM swap scam is to avoid using SIM cards for two-step verification. Instead, he suggests using more secure apps like Google Authenticator or Authy.