FBI links North Korean hackers to $6.3 billion Binance theft
The Federal Bureau of Investigation identified the entity TraderTraitor as the group responsible for the record cryptocurrency heist.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed a $6.3 billion theft from Binance to North Korean hackers. According to reports from Mint, Business Standard and Free Press Journal, the bureau identified the group behind the attack as TraderTraitor in a statement released on Saturday.
The FBI stated that the cyber activity was linked to the same actors responsible for a $1.5 billion Bybit hack last year. Preliminary investigations suggest the group was converting the stolen assets into Ethereum and may use DeFi or instant swap services to move the funds.
The heist occurred on Thursday, with approximately $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currencies taken from the exchange within 20 minutes. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said the attackers used a mechanism that destroyed their tools and traces of the operation.
Eric Jardine, head of research at Chainalysis, noted that the scale and frequency of the transactions suggested they were performed by a computer rather than a person. TRM Labs researcher Ari Redbord described the event as bank robbery at the speed of the internet.
Binance said on Saturday that it has set aside enough digital currency to cover 90 per cent of the missing assets. The company promised that customers will be fully reimbursed for the loss.