Binance Bot Attack - My take on it and some handy tips going forward

OK,

So if you haven't heard the news, yesterday people using Bots on Binance were targeted by hackers.
The hackers could not use peoples bots to run away with all their Crypto but what they could do is sell all their Alt Coins to Bitcoin and then use that Bitcoin to purchase little known Viacoin, thus orchestrating a massive Pump and Dump.
Yes, they are clever aren't they.

Have a look at this graph from Coin Market Cap to show the effect of it:

Binance had security measures in place, they stopped all withdraws, got on the front foot through all social media channels and communicated to the public what happened.
They have assured all members that no one has or will lose any funds from this and they have basically handled the situation as professionally as possible given the circumstances.

Binance's quote was "As of this moment, the only confirmed victims have registered API keys (to use with trading bots or otherwise). There is no evidence of the Binance platform being compromised," the post said. "Please remain patient and we will provide an update as quickly as possible."

For those that don't fully understand what a Pump and Dump is, here is an explanation courtesy of Investopedia.com:

A pump and dump scam is the illegal act of an investor or group of investors promoting a stock they hold and selling once the stock price has risen following the surge in interest as a result of the endorsement.
The stock is usually promoted as a "hot tip" or "the next big thing" with details of an upcoming news announcement that will "send the stock through the roof".
The details of each individual pump and dump scam tend to be different but the scheme always boils down to a basic principal: shifting supply and demand. Pump and dump scams tend to only work on small and micro-cap stocks that are traded over the counter.
These companies tend to be highly liquid and can have sharp price movements when volume increases.
The group behind the scam increase the demand and trading volume in the stock and this new inflow of investors leads to a sharp rise in its price. Once the price rise has formulated, the group will sell their position to make a large short-term gain.
If you would like to read more go to - https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/05/061205.asp

My understanding or perception of how they operate is that they usually target low priced junk coins, but interestingly ViaCoins price was around the $2.50 mark prior to the pump. They do only have a very small supply of 23 million so whilst I am no economist, I imagine this made it a desirable target.

What I do find reassuring at least, is it seems the bots are what gave the hackers the way in and they were not able to access the main platform of Binance where they could of done some real damage to members funds.
Binance will no doubt now double down on their online security, so this could turn into a positive in the long run for those like myself who have funds on there.

One take out from all of this for me is that if you are stuck with any crap coins you no longer want, it doesn't hurt to put a sell order up for some fantastical price just in case a pump comes along.
Past evidence has shown those ultra cheap junk coins or (as it now seems) lesser known coins with small supplies, could be targeted by Pump and Dumpers any time.

Whilst we may not see one orchestrated by hackers again on Binance, we will still see them from organised groups.
There are many shady social media groups/sites where people try to orchestrate them, some more successfully than others.
I am tipping last night legitimate Viacoin (VIA) holders who noticed the spike must of thought all their christmas's had come at once!

If you are anything like me, you will have a couple of junk coins stinking up your Alt Folio and you probably don't even remember why you got them. - Normally its a tip from your mate telling you about the next big thing lol
With the market the way it is at the moment, selling them is futile so they just continue to sit there in your pile waiting to become some what relevant again.
One coin I have that fits that description and would also fit the profile of a coin that Pump and Dumpers would target is LINDA, which has a lousy price of 0.001134 AUD.

• I guess they can't all be winners -

The odds of a Pump and Dump happening on my LINDA or any junk coin you or I own is small, but you could do worse than putting an ambitious sell order up in hope and just leaving it there.
Pump and Dumps happen pretty quickly so putting up a hopeful sell order for the off chance of it happening to yours, is a better way to try and catch a pump, rather then relying on hearing about it when it's live.

Using the recent UCASH pump and dump as an example, that coin went up over %1000!
So using that as a guide, maybe popping up a sell order for %1000 higher price could be the go.
Who knows, maybe one day you wake up with a nice little chunk of Bitcoin sitting on the Exchange (or Ethereum depending on your trading partner).
It certainly won't cost you anything to try.

To wrap up, I am for now going to leave my funds on Binance and back them to keep it secure.
As Alt Coin investors we do need to assume that one day hackers will get a hold of an exchange where we have funds.
A good rule to live by is that if you have a quantity of a particular coin on an exchange that is the equivalent or higher than a months worth of your wages, you need to get it out to a Private Wallet, Ledger Nano S etc.

• Ledger Nano S -

Keep those funds safe and good luck to you all.

Thanks for Reading

• Dahmsy