On a Saturday when the world's largest crypto exchange was still counting its losses, the FBI gave a name to the hand it believes reached in: North Korean hackers operating under the label TraderTraitor, the same group it links to a $1.5 billion breach at Bybit. The $6.3 billion taken from Binance on Thursday is the largest theft the digital money world has recorded, and it arrives as a reminder that a ledger can be emptied in minutes while its tracks remain, for a time, visible to those who know how to read them. The president hedged, saying the question was still open, and the outcome now de
FBI Blames North Korean Hackers for $6.3 Billion Binance Crypto Heist as Trump Stays Skeptical
Bank robbery, in this case, at the speed of the Internet.
Mark
The FBI named North Korea on Saturday. Why does the TraderTraitor link matter so much?
Mimi
Because it connects this to a pattern. The bureau says the same actors were behind the $1.5 billion Bybit hack last year. That makes this look like a repeat operation, not a one-off.
Luke
Worth noting that's the FBI's attribution. The reporting doesn't show the evidence behind it, only the bureau's statement and experts saying it had hallmarks of a North Korean hack.
Mark
And then Trump says he doesn't know if it's North Korea.
Mimi
He said "we're learning about it" and allowed it could still turn out to be North Korea. So it's less a flat denial than a public hedge.
Luke
Right, and the source doesn't explain the gap between him and the FBI. We can't say whether he has different information or is just being cautious.
Mark
What happens to the stolen money now?
Mimi
The FBI says it's mostly being converted into ethereum, and it expects swaps through DeFi and instant swap services. Ari Redbord expects it to be broken up and pushed through smaller exchanges over months.
Luke
That's a forecast, his and the FBI's, not something that has happened. What's confirmed is the conversion into ethereum and the request to block addresses.
Mark
And customers?
Mimi
Binance says it has reserves covering 90 per cent of what was taken and promises full reimbursement.
Luke
Which is a company promise. The remaining 10 per cent and how it will be covered isn't explained.
Der Puls
- A $6.3 billion theft drained Binance in minutes, and the scale alone has rattled confidence across the crypto market.
- The FBI has pinned the attack on TraderTraitor and asked exchanges to block a list of linked addresses before the money disappears.
- The president publicly doubted the attribution, leaving a visible gap between federal investigators and the White House.
- Binance is steadying customers by pointing to reserves that cover 90 per cent of the missing assets and promising full reimbursement.
- Stolen funds are already being converted into ethereum, with DeFi platforms and instant swap services expected as the next step.
- Investigators are racing a laundering process that could stretch over months, and the outcome will turn on whether the money is traced and seized.
On a Saturday when the world's largest crypto exchange was still counting its losses, the FBI gave a name to the hand it believes reached in: North Korean hackers operating under the label TraderTraitor, the same group it links to a $1.5 billion breach at Bybit. The $6.3 billion taken from Binance on Thursday is the largest theft the digital money world has recorded, and it arrives as a reminder that a ledger can be emptied in minutes while its tracks remain, for a time, visible to those who know how to read them. The president hedged, saying the question was still open, and the outcome now depends less on who is named than on whether the flow of stolen money can be followed, frozen, and returned.
On Saturday the FBI said North Korean hackers were responsible for the attack on Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, in which billions of dollars vanished within minutes. The theft took place on Thursday and totalled $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currency. Experts had already suspected a North Korean operation, and the bureau's statement tied the heist to an entity it calls TraderTraitor, the same group it says was behind a $1.5 billion hack of Bybit last year.
The FBI's investigation also revealed how the money is moving. The stolen assets are being converted mainly into ethereum, and the bureau expects the next step to be laundering through DeFi platforms and instant swap services. It has asked exchanges, blockchain analysts and others to block transactions linked to a list of addresses, so the funds cannot be cleaned of their origin.
The president was less certain. Speaking at a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump said investigators had not yet settled the question, stating, "We don't know if it's North Korea," while leaving open that it could still be confirmed.
TRM Labs' Ari Redbord expects the hackers to split the funds and push them through smaller exchanges, a process that could take months. Yet he noted that blockchain transactions can be traced in real time, giving investigators a chance to build cases and recover money. "It's just this cat and mouse game," he said.
For Binance's customers, the company said it holds reserves in the stolen currency sufficient to cover 90 per cent of the missing assets and promised full reimbursement. What comes next is the pursuit itself: whether exchanges block the flagged addresses, how fast the ethereum moves, and whether the administration's position moves toward the FBI's.
On Saturday, the FBI put a name to the group behind the largest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded. In a statement, the bureau said North Korean hackers were responsible for the attack on Binance, in which billions of dollars disappeared within a matter of minutes.
The theft happened on Thursday. A total of $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currency was taken from Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. Several crypto experts said at the time that the attack bore the hallmarks of a North Korean operation. The FBI's statement went further, tying the heist to what it called "malicious cyber activity" by an entity known as TraderTraitor. The bureau said the same actors were behind a $1.5 billion hack of the exchange Bybit last year.
The FBI's investigation also turned up how the stolen money is moving. According to the bureau, TraderTraitor has been converting the stolen assets mainly into ethereum. The FBI expects the group's next step to be converting the assets through DeFi platforms and what it described as "instant swap services." The bureau asked crypto exchanges, blockchain analytics companies and others to block transactions linked to a list of addresses, so the money cannot be laundered in a way that hides where it came from.
The president, however, was not as definitive. Asked by reporters on Saturday night at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Donald Trump suggested investigators had not yet established North Korea's involvement. "I'm not concerned. We're learning about it," he said. "We don't know if it's North Korea." He added that it could yet be determined that it was.
Ari Redbord, chief policy officer at the blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, described what is likely to come next. He expects the hackers to split the stolen assets into pieces and try to launder them through smaller exchanges to avoid detection, a process that could unfold over months. "It's bank robbery, in this case, at the speed of the Internet," he said. But he pointed to the other side of the ledger: funds can be tracked and traced in real time, which lets investigators build cases, disrupt the laundering and seize money back. "It's just this cat and mouse game," he said.
For Binance's customers, the company offered reassurance on Saturday. It said it holds enough in the same digital currency that was stolen to cover 90 per cent of the missing assets, and it promised that customers would be fully reimbursed.
What to watch now is the chase itself: whether exchanges act on the FBI's request to block the flagged addresses, how quickly the ethereum moves through DeFi and swap services, and whether the administration's public position shifts toward the bureau's.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
It's bank robbery, in this case, at the speed of the Internet. However, we can also track and trace those funds in real time.— Ari Redbord, chief policy officer, TRM Labs
I'm not concerned. We're learning about it. We don't know if it's North Korea.— President Donald Trump, at Mar-a-Lago
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei CP24 Toronto ↗
Politics & Governance