North Korea Tied to Historic $6.3 Billion Crypto Heist

Binance, a major player in the cryptocurrency market, reports it has recuperated 90% of the losses stemming from a significant hacking incident.

The FBI has tied the theft of a staggering $6.3 billion in digital currencies from Binance to North Korean hackers.

According to an announcement by the FBI on Saturday, these malicious entities were found to be laundering the stolen funds, predominantly converting them into Ethereum.

The US agency specifically identified a hacking group named TraderTraitor, which also allegedly executed a $1.5 billion theft from the Bybit exchange last February.

The FBI noted that the stolen assets will likely undergo further laundering in multiple phases.

In light of this, the agency urged virtual asset service providers to prevent transactions associated with this laundering effort, supplying them with the relevant digital wallet addresses to monitor.

Separately, Binance confirmed on Saturday that it has successfully replenished 90% of the stolen funds through its own resources to acquire new tokens.

The remaining 10% involves less tradable tokens, which may require additional time to procure, the company explained.

“We are committed to securing the rest of the affected token assets… until we achieve a full 100% recovery for all tokens. The financial burden of these losses will be borne solely by Binance, ensuring our users are not impacted,” the company announced on X.

The funds allocated for repurchasing tokens came from the $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), which is a reserve created to protect customers during security incidents, along with contributions from the Futures Insurance Fund and the company’s overall treasury.

Following these events, cryptocurrency prices experienced a decline on Friday, as Binance, the largest crypto exchange on the globe, aimed to reassure its customers regarding the safety of their assets.

Commenting on the situation, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng described the incident as a “sophisticated attack,” mentioning that it involved a compromised device and harmful software engineered to erase traces of its activity, complicating the investigation.

After the breach, Binance temporarily halted customer withdrawals.

However, the exchange later indicated on Saturday that it was ready to resume withdrawals on Sunday.

Additionally, Binance announced it would release a new snapshot of its proof-of-reserves, enabling users to independently verify that their assets are secured at a minimum ratio of 1:1.