Binance loses $6.3 billion in minutes to North Korean hackers

The FBI announced on Saturday that North Korean hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in a matter of minutes. The bureau identified the perpetrators as an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same group responsible for a $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange last year. This incident marks the largest theft of digital currency in history.

The attack occurred on Thursday. The FBI stated in a written release that the group engaged in malicious cyber activity to move the stolen funds. Investigators found that TraderTraitor converted the stolen assets primarily into Ethereum. The bureau expects the hackers to use decentralized finance platforms and instant swap services to further obscure the money's origins. The FBI has asked crypto exchanges and blockchain analytics firms to block transactions linked to specific addresses to prevent the funds from being laundered.

Binance responded on Saturday by confirming the breach. The company said it has set aside enough of the same digital currency that was stolen to cover 90% of the missing assets. The exchange promised that all customers would be fully reimbursed for their losses.

President Donald Trump offered a different perspective when asked about the case on Saturday night at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He suggested that investigators had not yet confirmed North Korea's involvement. "I'm not concerned. We're learning about it," Trump said. "We don't know if it's North Korea." He added that it could still be determined that the country was responsible.

Ari Redbord, chief policy officer at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, expects the hackers to break the stolen assets into smaller pieces. He predicted they would launder the funds through smaller exchanges to evade detection, a process that could take months. Redbord described the event as a bank robbery at the speed of the Internet. He noted that analysts can track and trace the funds in real time to build investigations and seize assets. He called the situation a cat and mouse game.

The FBI's probe continues as agencies work to freeze the illicit transfers. The bureau's statement emphasized the need to disrupt the flow of money before it is fully converted. Binance's reserve funds are ready to compensate users, while the global crypto community monitors the movement of the stolen Ethereum.