North Korean Hackers Move $6 Billion in Stolen Binance Funds Through 12,000 Wallets - Businesskorea
North Korean hackers have moved approximately $6 billion in stolen Binance assets across 12,000 cryptocurrency wallets in an effort to obscure the funds' trail, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic on Nov. 2, the hackers have moved assets previously held in temporary wallets onto the Solana network and other blockchains, marking the formal start of a full-scale second-stage laundering operation.
Laundering Operation
The hackers are employing approximately 12,000 cryptocurrency wallets and conducting more than 40,000 transactions to evade detection. They are distributing the stolen funds across multiple addresses and moving them between different blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, NEAR and XRP. Movement of stolen assets into Bitcoin has also been detected, with some Ethereum exchanged for Bitcoin and approximately 28 BTC passing through mixing services by Nov. 2.
Mixing services combine funds from multiple users to make it difficult to trace the links between deposits and withdrawals.
Regulatory Response
As the repercussions of the Binance hack intensified, South Korea's Financial Services Commission convened an emergency review meeting with domestic virtual asset service providers. The FSC urged exchanges to increase the proportion of customer assets held in 'cold wallets' — storage not connected to the internet — and called for strengthened security measures. The virtual asset industry requested regulatory easing to allow exchanges to limit withdrawals during hacks at other platforms.
International Reactions
The U.S. FBI officially identified the hacking group 'TraderTraitor,' operating under North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, as the perpetrator. Binance reaffirmed it would absorb the full financial impact rather than passing the burden to users. North Korea swiftly denied the accusations, with Kim Yo-jong calling the American claims 'absurd and groundless fabrications' and 'political provocation.'
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