Hacker attack on Binance cryptocurrency exchange on New Year’s Eve allowed a trader to earn $ 1 million

on January 1, 2026, a high-profile incident occurred on Binance Binance-hack-broccoli-714-trader-profit-2026/«>a hacker gained access to a market maker’s account and tried to manipulate the price of the little-known BROCCOLI (714) token. In response, one of the traders named Vida detected anomalies in the order book, took advantage of the artificial price increase, and earned approximately $ 1 million, the first such profit in 2026.

The hacker was aggressively buying up BROCCOLI (714) in the spot segment, while opening futures positions using leverage on other accounts. These actions led to a sharp jump in the price, although there was strange activity in the depths of the market — millions of USDT were put up for purchase for an asset with a capitalization of only $ 30−40 million. Vida, using its own automated monitoring systems, quickly noticed the discrepancy between spot and derivatives prices.

Recognizing an attempt at manipulation, Vida opened long positions at the beginning of the rise, and after large buy orders disappeared — a signal of intervention by Binance’s security systems — it quickly exited the trade and opened a short. When the support disappeared, the price plummeted, bringing the trader millions in profit.

This case exposed the vulnerabilities of risk control systems on exchanges and proved that even low-liquid assets can become a tool for sophisticated attacks. Despite the criminal nature of the incident, the situation became a «lesson of the year» for traders, showing that discipline, speed, and analysis of market structure can bring profit even in chaos.