World’s largest crypto exchange hit by suspected North Korean hack in world’s largest heist - Egypt Independent
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has suspended withdrawals after hackers stole six billion dollars in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist ever.
The exchange said Friday that it has begun recovering affected assets and was continuing to work with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence firms to trace additional funds. An initial investigation suggested the hack went through an engineer's laptop, "which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions," Binance said late on Thursday.
Blockchain evidence suggests the hack originated in North Korea, according to multiple crypto-tracing firms. A team of cryptocurrency firms managed to freeze about three billion dollars of the stolen loot amid a frenetic battle with the hackers to find and control the digital money.
The attack was not a 'one-click' action, but rather a complex process.
North Korean Connection
Crypto-tracing firm TRM Labs attributed the heist to an elite North Korean hacking unit "based on robust on and off-chain intelligence," pointing out that "several features of this attack match earlier North Korea-linked heists." Pangolin Intelligence, another blockchain-tracking firm based in Singapore, said it also believed that a North Korean hacking unit was behind the heist.
"Analyzing the on-chain activity related to this hack and correlating with information gathered from previous known incidents" led to the attribution, said an analyst with Pangolin Intelligence, who did not want to be named for privacy reasons.
Law Enforcement Response
The FBI said in a statement Friday that it is "aware of the incident and is engaged with relevant public and private partners to understand the scope of the activity, evaluate potential impacts, and coordinate appropriate investigative steps." A spokesperson for the US Secret Service said the agency's "investigators are working around the clock with our private-sector partners, including Circle [the company behind the US dollar-backed stablecoin USDC], to identify, freeze, trace, and recover funds stolen from Binance on Thursday."
If North Korea is proven to be the culprit, it would be little surprise to US law enforcement officials and private experts. North Korean hackers were blamed for the previous record-high crypto hack, when they allegedly stole $1.5 billion from Bybit, another major cryptocurrency exchange.
Market Impact
Prices of bitcoin and ether, the most widely traded cryptocurrencies, plummeted following news of the Binance breach, but regained some losses to trade about 2-3% lower midday Friday in Hong Kong.
Binance said it would cover all losses from the company's funds and an emergency assets fund, adding "user funds are safe." The crypto exchange said it had temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals to allow security checks to be completed and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds. The crypto exchange expects withdrawal services to resume by Sunday morning.
Changpeng Zhao, who no longer manages the platform but remains its largest shareholder, said on X that he expects user funds to be fully covered by the exchange, pushing back against any suggestion to the contrary in a spat on X with Elon Musk.
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