Binance has resumed trading, deposits, and withdrawals for IOTX, and the token moved higher after the exchange restored full service. Before the security incident, IOTX traded near $0.0053. It later fell to around $0.0041 after the exploit. Following the service resumption, the token jumped more than 29.27% at one stage, then settled at $0.004959, up about 7.5% over 24 hours.
The move came while the broader market was under pressure. The source material says the overall market was down 3.37%, while Bitcoin fell 3.24% to $63,000 during a period of geopolitical tension. That made the IOTX recovery stand out more sharply.
ioTube exploit led exchanges to halt support temporarily
On February 21, 2026, IoTeX’s ioTube cross-chain bridge was exploited after a validator private key on the Ethereum side was compromised. That gave the attacker control over critical smart contracts. Initial reports pointed to about $2 million in real bridged assets drained, including stablecoins, ETH, and WBTC, while a large amount of unauthorized wrapped tokens was also minted. Independent security firms and on-chain analysts later put the total damage at roughly $4.4 million.
IoTeX said the exploit was contained within the bridge infrastructure, and funds held directly on the IoTeX chain were not affected. As a precaution, Binance, Upbit, Bithumb, KuCoin, and other exchanges temporarily suspended IOTX deposits and withdrawals.
Mainnet upgrade and two-tier compensation plan
IoTeX responded by upgrading its mainnet to v2.3.4 on February 23. The release included a default blacklist for malicious addresses and other security hardening measures, allowing full operations to resume. The IoTeX Foundation also said affected bridge users would receive 100% compensation, regardless of whether the stolen assets are recovered.
A claims portal went live around February 27 to 28, where users could submit transaction hashes and wallet details for verification. The program was split into two tiers. Users with losses of $10,000 or less were eligible for an immediate 100% payout in stablecoins or native assets on Ethereum. Users with losses above $10,000 would receive the first $10,000 immediately, with the remaining amount paid quarterly over 12 months, plus an extra 10% bonus in IOTX through a 12-month staking arrangement.
Binance reopening became a market confidence signal
The source describes Binance as a major venue for IOTX liquidity and price discovery. During the exploit, the exchange’s precautionary suspension added to short-term selling pressure. Once IoTeX completed its response steps and Binance restored full service, the reopening was treated by the market as a credibility signal that helped normalize trading conditions.
For now, network operations are described as stable, with no new disruption reported. Even so, the recovery effort is not limited to reopening transfers and trading. IoTeX still needs to rebuild confidence after the bridge incident.