FBI blames North Korea for stolen billions from Binance in biggest hack in history
The theft of billions of dollars from Binance within a matter of minutes, the biggest cryptocurrency heist in history, was orchestrated by North Korean hackers, the FBI said on Saturday. The bureau said in a statement that this week’s attack was tied to “malicious cyber activity” by an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same actors behind a US$1.5 billion Bybit hack last year. The FBI asked…
The FBI has accused North Korean hackers of orchestrating the largest cryptocurrency heist in history, stealing $6.3 billion from Binance in a matter of minutes. This malicious cyber activity is linked to an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same group responsible for a $1.5 billion hack on Bybit last year. The FBI has called on cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics companies, and others to block transactions associated with specific addresses to prevent the laundered money.
The investigation revealed that TraderTraitor is primarily converting stolen assets into Ethereum. Experts predict that the hackers will break down the stolen assets into smaller pieces and attempt to launder them through smaller exchanges to avoid detection, a process that could take months. Ari Redbord, a cryptocurrency expert and chief policy officer at TRM Labs, likened the theft to "bank robbery at the speed of the internet".
However, he added that real-time tracking and tracing of funds can aid investigations, disrupt the process, and potentially recover the stolen funds. Binance has set aside $6.3 billion in Bitcoin and other digital currencies to cover 90% of the missing assets and has assured customers that they will be fully reimbursed.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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