Binance Hit By $6.3-Billion Crypto Heist? What We Know About The Biggest Hack

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly suffered a major cyberattack, with hackers stealing cryptocurrencies worth $6.3 billion in what could be the biggest crypto heist in history.

Confirming the incident, Binance said it was working to contain and resolve what it described as a "complex attack". The exchange said it was coordinating with law enforcement agencies and other industry partners to trace and freeze the stolen assets.

"This was a complex attack, and we are doing all we can in coordination with law enforcement to resolve it," Binance wrote in a post on X.

The exchange also cautioned that the estimated value of the stolen assets could rise further as investigations continue.

The $6.3-billion figure may "continue to increase as our teams work closely with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets," it said.

Here's what we know about the reported Binance hack so far.

What Happened? $6.3 Billion In Cryptocurrency Stolen

According to Binance, around $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen from wallets used by the exchange to process transactions.

In its initial assessment, the company believed the attack had originated from a compromised laptop. However, further investigation revealed additional security breaches.

"However, our subsequent investigation has uncovered additional points of breach," Binance said.

How Did Hackers Carry Out The Attack?

The attack targeted Binance.com, the exchange's global centralised platform. Binance.US, which serves customers in the United States, was not affected, the company said.

Binance said the compromised laptop provided the attacker with access to a service container, enabling the submission of unauthorised withdrawal transactions.

Richard Teng, Binance's co-chief executive officer, described the incident as a "complex attack process".

According to US-based blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs, the attackers compromised Binance's "signing infrastructure", which authorises transactions. This allegedly allowed them to issue instructions that drained the affected wallets.

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Blockchain records indicate that the bulk of the heist took place within approximately 20 minutes. The transactions began shortly after 2000 GMT on Thursday.

After moving the funds, the attackers attempted to transfer them beyond the reach of Binance's counterparties and stablecoin issuers. These entities have since frozen roughly half of the stolen assets.

Who Is Behind The Binance Hack?

Binance and other authorities have not confirmed the identity of those responsible for the attack.

However, US-based blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has attributed the hack to a North Korean-linked group known as TraderTraitor, which it described as one of North Korea's elite hacking units.

In a post on its website on Thursday, TRM said: "We make this judgment with high confidence."

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis also pointed towards the same group. Its co-founder and CEO, Jonathan Levin, wrote on X that the Binance hack was "likely done by DPRK (North Korea) group TraderTraitor".

What Happens To Binance Users? Are Their Funds Safe?

Binance said on Friday that it had set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to manage the fallout from the attack. This includes $5 billion already held in the affected token assets.

In an earlier statement, Teng said users' funds were safe. As a precautionary measure, the exchange also temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals.

The company said it was working with its partners to freeze assets worth $3 billion that have been traced so far.

However, freezing the assets does not necessarily mean they will be returned to Binance. It does, nevertheless, restrict the hackers' ability to convert the stolen cryptocurrencies into cash.

Binance also said it remained on schedule to restore withdrawal services.

"We are still on track towards the expected timeline to resume the withdrawal service in 45 hours," the exchange said.

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