FBI blames North Korea for historic 6 3 billion dollar Binance hack

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced on Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the historic 6.3 billion dollar theft from cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The Information, CNBC Tech, and NBC News all reported on the law enforcement attribution. The FBI conducted the investigation alongside the United States Secret Service and the criminal investigation arm of the Internal Revenue Service, according to The Information. [1][3][7]

The cyber attack targeted token assets stored in Binance hot wallets, CNBC Tech reported. CoinDesk, CNBC Tech, and Pulse 2.0 reported that the total impact of the breach reached an estimated 6.3 billion dollars. Pulse 2.0 added that blockchain partners assisted the exchange in freezing approximately 3 billion dollars of affected assets on-chain. [3][4][5][6]

Binance stated on Saturday that it has restored backing for 90 percent of the affected token assets, CNBC Tech and CoinDesk both reported. According to CoinDesk and CNBC Tech, the exchange is absorbing all losses through corporate funds, futures reserves, and its Secure Asset Fund for Users to ensure user balances remain intact. CNBC Tech reported that Binance plans to buy the remaining token assets through market and over-the-counter channels to reach 100 percent coverage. [3][4]

Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao and grew to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, according to Wikipedia. The company was initially based in China before moving to Japan and Malta, and it currently operates without an official corporate headquarters. As FTMQ Startups reported earlier, Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng noted that the attackers bypassed security controls and erased evidence during the theft. [12][13]

Binance plans to resume customer withdrawals on Sunday, subject to security checks, according to CNBC Tech. As FTMQ Startups reported earlier, the exchange also intends to publish proof of reserves on Monday. [3][13]