A hacker seized control of a market maker's Binance account on Jan. 1, 2026, and manipulated BROCCOLI(714) token prices through aggressive spot buying. Trader Vida detected the anomaly within 30 minutes using automated alerts, capitalized on the artificial pump, then reversed his position to profit approximately $1 million—marking crypto's first major trading win of the new year.
The incident exposed vulnerabilities in exchange risk controls and market maker account security.
What Happened: Account Compromise
The attacker gained control of a market maker's accounts on Binance and attempted to move stolen funds by manipulating the thinly traded BROCCOLI(714) token to create artificial liquidity, according to Vida's account of the events.
The hacker aggressively bought spot BROCCOLI(714) using the compromised accounts while simultaneously opening leveraged perpetual futures positions through other accounts. The goal appeared to be coordinated self-trading, pumping spot prices, exploiting derivatives, and quietly transferring value out of the system.
Vida, who held existing spot and futures exposure to BROCCOLI(714), received automated alerts flagging a rapid price increase of more than 30% within 30 minutes, alongside a widening divergence between spot and perpetual futures prices.
Binance's spot order book began showing tens of millions of USDT stacked on the bid side for a token with a market capitalization of roughly $30–40 million at the time, while the futures market showed minimal bid depth.
"From that, I figured it had to be either a hacked account or a bug in the market-making program, because no whale would be dumb enough to do charity like that—no whale plays spot market like this," Vida said.
Recognizing the nature of the move, Vida went long early, riding the artificial pump created by the hacker's urgency to move funds. He monitored the spot order book closely, watching for the sudden removal of large bid orders that would likely indicate Binance's risk control systems stepping in to restrict the compromised accounts.
That signal arrived shortly after 4:30 a.m. China time when large bids vanished. Vida immediately closed his long positions and flipped short, opening a sizable perpetual futures position as liquidity collapsed and prices began to unwind.
BROCCOLI(714) retraced sharply as artificial support disappeared.
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Why It Matters: Market Structure
The profit resulted from identifying abnormal market behavior rather than predicting price direction.
The incident triggered surges across other BROCCOLI-related tokens, with some recording double-digit gains, according to CoinGecko data.
One market participant noted that from the pump start to 150 million market cap, the manipulation lasted almost an hour, providing trapped position holders with room to operate.
"Why didn't I catch the broccoli: I was sleeping…don't wait for the good news, what came was 'being stolen'. Too bad I was sleeping, otherwise I could have accidentally harvested the veggies. Reflection, still need to set up a wake-up service, because from the pump start to 150m, it lasted almost an hour, for those with trapped positions before, there was still a lot of room to operate! First lesson of the new year, sleeping is not good for getting rich!" one user remarked.
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