US Secret Service Joins Circle, Tether in Freezing $2.37B in Binance Hack Funds
The US Secret Service has joined Circle and Tether in freezing $2.37 billion in funds stolen during Binance's $6.3 billion security breach, with investigations pointing to North Korean hackers.
The US Secret Service has confirmed its collaboration with stablecoin issuer Circle to identify, freeze, and recover funds stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Binance in a massive security breach. The joint effort, which also involves the FBI and other cryptocurrency industry firms, comes as stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether have frozen over $2.37 billion in digital assets linked to the hack.
Circle has frozen more than $800 million in USDC (USD Coin) while Tether has frozen nearly $1.57 billion in USDT (Tether) related to the breach, according to statements from both companies' CEOs. Binance has reported that industry partners have frozen around $3 billion in total assets connected to the incident.
North Korean Hackers Blamed
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has attributed the Binance hack to TraderTraitor, described as North Korea's elite hacking unit. The firm stated its assessment was made with "high confidence" based on both on-chain and off-chain intelligence, and is actively tracking the stolen funds through its Beacon Network.
We make this judgment with high confidence.
Coordinated Recovery Effort
The FBI has confirmed it is aware of the incident and is working with public- and private-sector partners to assess its impact and coordinate investigative steps. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire emphasized that the freezing of USDC was taken "in coordination with law enforcement."
Circle and Tether have the technical capability to freeze their stablecoins at specific blockchain addresses, allowing them to restrict transfers linked to the incident. However, it's important to note that frozen assets have not necessarily been recovered or returned to affected users at this stage.
Industry Response
The massive breach and subsequent recovery effort highlight the growing collaboration between cryptocurrency firms and law enforcement agencies in addressing security threats. Binance has been working closely with both the FBI and the Secret Service to address the fallout from the security breach.
The incident represents one of the largest cryptocurrency hacks in history, with the coordinated response demonstrating the industry's increasing ability to quickly mobilize resources against sophisticated cybercriminal operations. Investigations continue as authorities work to trace and recover the remaining stolen funds.
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