Solflare Enters ‘Bunker Mode’ After Binance Hack, Locks Down Code Access

TLDR

• Solflare has restricted access to its infrastructure and code after a string of crypto industry attacks.
• Every change now needs multiple approvals, and the team has paused new additions.
• A third-party staking provider incident in October affected keys tied to Solflare’s Solana validator.
• Solflare says no user funds were touched, but affected users stopped earning staking rewards.
• The migration deadline is now November 30, and Solflare will cover rewards missed from October 26 to November 1.

Solana-based crypto wallet Solflare has tightened its internal security controls after a string of attacks across the crypto industry. The company has restricted access to its infrastructure and code and now requires multiple approvals for every change.

In a November 2 statement, co-founder Vidor said the development team had entered “bunker mode.” He wrote, “After the month this industry just had, access to our infra and code is shut down, every change needs multiple approvals, and nothing new gets in.”

Vidor said the restrictions would affect the company’s development schedule. “It slows us down and I’m fine with that,” he wrote.

Recent Attacks Across the Crypto Industry

The announcement followed an October 29 security breach at Binance involving about $6.3 billion in affected crypto assets. The exchange’s early investigation pointed to a possibly compromised engineer’s laptop as one entry point.

Binance said attackers may have reached internal systems used to approve crypto withdrawals. The exchange described its findings as preliminary.

Hardware wallet maker Keystone also reported an incident after unauthorized access to its website exposed buyers’ personal information. Keystone said private keys and recovery phrases were not affected, but the leaked data raised phishing concerns.

Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin recently suspended customer withdrawals after finding unauthorized activity in its systems. Solflare’s new restrictions apply to its own operational systems.

Validator Incident Halts Staking Rewards

On October 27, Solflare said its third-party staking provider had reported a security incident involving keys tied to the wallet’s Solana validator. The affected validator stopped producing staking rewards while the provider investigated.

Solflare said users’ delegated SOL stayed in their own stake accounts, which are controlled by their private keys. “Your SOL is safe,” the wallet said, adding that “No user funds were touched.”

The company explained that holding validator keys does not give an operator the power to move SOL out of customers’ staking accounts. That control stays with the owners of those accounts.

Blockchain data cited by Unchained showed about 1.56 million SOL delegated to the affected validator on October 28. The validator had stopped voting and was no longer earning rewards for those delegators.

An October 29 investigation by analytics firm Bitquery traced unauthorized transfers from keys linked to several Solana validators, including Solflare’s. The firm estimated the attacker moved about $135,000 in assets from five validators. Its findings separated validator operators’ assets from customer funds in staking accounts.

Solflare set up a replacement validator and began asking affected users to move their delegated SOL. The company first set November 1 as the deadline for users seeking compensation for missed rewards.

Its latest announcement extended the migration deadline to November 30. “You now have until November 30 to move your stake to the new Solflare validator,” the wallet told users.

Solflare has warned that scammers could use the migration to spread fake instructions. “Migration will only happen through the Solflare app. We will never DM you or send you a link,” the company said.

Users can update the Solflare app and follow the in-app steps to complete the move. Rewards resume once the transferred SOL becomes active on the new validator.

Solana processes stake activation through network epochs, so some transfers may take extra time before earning rewards. Solflare said it will cover staking rewards missed between October 26 and November 1 for users who finish the migration by November 30.

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