NEW YORK, November 1: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has blamed North Korean hackers for a massive cyberattack that resulted in the theft of approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The incident is being described as the biggest crypto heist in history.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the FBI linked the attack to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor, which was also allegedly responsible for last year’s $1.5 billion cyberattack on cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.
The FBI has urged cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and other industry players to block transactions connected to several identified digital wallet addresses to prevent the stolen funds from being laundered.
According to the agency, investigators found that the hackers were primarily converting the stolen assets into Ethereum. The FBI warned that the group could attempt to move the funds through decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms and instant cryptocurrency swap services to conceal their origins.
The massive theft took place on Thursday, when approximately $6.3 billion worth of Bitcoin and other digital currencies were stolen within minutes. Several cryptocurrency experts had earlier pointed towards a possible North Korean connection based on the nature of the attack.
Meanwhile, Binance said it had sufficient reserves in the same cryptocurrencies to cover around 90 per cent of the stolen assets. The exchange also assured customers that they would be fully reimbursed for their losses.
