By CCN: Binance, the No. 1 cryptocurrency exchange based on trading volume, has been hacked. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who is at the helm of the exchange, made the announcement on Twitter after previously sharing that “unscheduled server maintanance” was unfolding.

As it turns out, it was much worse than imagined, with hackers making away with 7,000 bitcoins, which at the current BTC price is worth approximately $40 million. The funds were stolen from Binance’s hot wallet, which was comprised of 2% of the exchange’s bitcoin holdings.

Binance issued the following statement:

“We have discovered a large scale security breach today, May 7, 2019 at 17:15:24. Hackers were able to obtain a large number of user API keys, 2FA codes, and potentially other info. The hackers used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks. We are still concluding all possible methods used. There may also be additional affected accounts that have not been identified yet.”

Not the best of days, but we will stay transparent. Thank you for your support!https://t.co/Y1CQOatEpi

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) May 7, 2019

Binance says all of its other wallets are “safe and secure.”

This story is developing…click here for a real-time bitcoin price chart.