Binance Hacker Accidentally Transfers 8 Million NEWT and 17 Other Tokens to Token Contract, Permanently Locking ~$3.5 Million in Assets

According to Odaily, the Newton Foundation stated that the attacker in the Binance hacking incident appears to have made an operational error today by transferring approximately 8 million NEWT and 17 other tokens directly to the NEWT token contract address. The total value of the involved assets is approximately $3.5 million at current prices.

The Newton Foundation stated that the NEWT token contract itself was not compromised. Because the contract uses an immutable design, all admin permissions were renounced in 2025, and upgrade functionality was permanently disabled, no one (including the Foundation) can retrieve the tokens mistakenly transferred to the contract. These assets are now permanently locked, and the attacker can no longer control or sell them. The Foundation has shared the investigation results with Binance and will continue to provide assistance.