North Korea blamed for US$6.3 billion crypto heist pulled off in just 20 minutes

Summarised by Centrist

North Korean hackers have been blamed for stealing an estimated US$6.3 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, in what is believed to be the biggest digital heist ever recorded. Most of the money was stolen in just 20 minutes.

According to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, attackers transferred approximately US$6.36 billion from Binance wallets across ten blockchains on 29 October, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The FBI has attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking operation associated with the notorious Lazarus Group, previously linked to major cryptocurrency thefts and the 2014 Sony Pictures cyberattack.

Investigators say the hackers have been converting stolen assets into Ethereum and moving them through cryptocurrency services to conceal their origins.

The FBI has urged cryptocurrency operators to block transactions involving wallets linked to the theft.

Binance initially identified a compromised employee laptop as a possible entry point, although subsequent investigations uncovered additional security breaches.

Co-CEO Richard Teng described the operation as a "complex attack", saying hackers used a self-destruct mechanism to make their activities harder to trace.

Binance temporarily suspended withdrawals before beginning to restore services on Sunday. The exchange says it has replaced approximately 95% of the affected assets using company resources and protection funds, promising customers will not bear the losses.

However, replacing stolen assets does not necessarily mean recovering them from the hackers. Blockchain investigators estimate that billions remain outside the exchange's control.

US officials have previously warned that North Korean cryptocurrency operations help finance the country's military and nuclear weapons programmes.

President Donald Trump appeared less certain than the FBI about North Korea's involvement.

"We don't know if it's North Korea," he told reporters, adding: "But if it is, we'll talk to North Korea about it."

Read more at The Daily Mail

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