What We Know About the $6.3 Billion Binance Cryptocurrency Heist

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article’s central purpose?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To explain cryptocurrency investment strategies
   2. To summarize a heist and examine its wider significance
   3. To compare Binance with conventional banks
   4. To argue that digital assets should be prohibited
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To summarize a heist and examine its wider significance

   It connects the heist’s facts with its broader security implications.

   The incident therefore combines an immediate financial loss with a wider security challenge.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article describe the theft’s speed in detail?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To establish the attack’s unusual efficiency
   2. To identify the exchange’s physical location
   3. To explain how customers received compensation
   4. To prove that all stolen assets were recovered
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To establish the attack’s unusual efficiency

   The timing emphasizes the attackers’ efficiency and the sector’s vulnerability.

   The theft unfolded with extraordinary speed: at 4:05 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, the attackers gained access to trading accounts and removed the assets within roughly 20 minutes.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “Its speed” refer to in the final paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The exchange’s repayment process
   2. The military unit’s formation
   3. The incident’s rapid execution
   4. The FBI’s public confirmation
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The incident’s rapid execution

   The pronoun refers to the incident introduced immediately beforehand.

   Its speed demonstrates how digital assets can move across the internet almost instantly, while the unresolved questions about access and compensation leave the exchange facing continued scrutiny.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship does the article establish between innovation and safeguards?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Innovation has eliminated the need for safeguards.
   2. Innovation and safeguards have advanced at identical rates.
   3. Rapid innovation has sometimes outpaced consistent protection.
   4. Safeguards have prevented innovation in digital finance.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Rapid innovation has sometimes outpaced consistent protection.

   It presents innovation as developing alongside inconsistent protections.

   The sector has long faced criticism from people who view it as the “Wild West” of finance, where rapid innovation has often developed alongside uneven safeguards.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why is the alleged TraderTraitor connection significant?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It explains Binance’s repayment mechanism.
   2. It connects the event to repeated cyber operations.
   3. It identifies every affected investor.
   4. It confirms how the attackers entered accounts.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It connects the event to repeated cyber operations.

   It places this event within a larger pattern of North Korean cyber activity.

   The group’s alleged involvement links the incident to a broader pattern of cyber heists associated with North Korean hacking operations.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What remains uncertain despite the reported asset freeze?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Whether cryptocurrency exists
   2. Whether North Korea was involved
   3. How the attackers accessed the accounts
   4. Whether exchanges can hold digital currency
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   How the attackers accessed the accounts

   The article distinguishes recovered assets from unresolved access questions.

   Several crucial details remain unclear, including precisely how the attackers entered the investors’ trading accounts.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can be inferred about the $3 billion freeze?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. All stolen funds were immediately returned.
   2. Some stolen assets became inaccessible to the attackers.
   3. The freeze proved the breach was accidental.
   4. Partners assumed responsibility for customer repayment.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Some stolen assets became inaccessible to the attackers.

   The freeze prevented hackers from fully controlling those assets.

   Binance, working with other exchanges and partners, has frozen about $3 billion in stolen cryptocurrency, preventing the hackers from taking full possession of those assets.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.