Hackers stole billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from Binance: what should users do?
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The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been hit by a massive hacker attack, during which hackers stole around $6.36 billion worth of digital assets. According to analysts, the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor is behind the attack. Some of the stolen funds have already been frozen, and Binance has promised to fully compensate users for the losses.
This is reported by Reuters and CNN , citing a report by the analytical company TRM Labs.
According to TRM Labs, on October 29, attackers withdrew funds from Binance hot wallets on ten blockchain networks. The total amount of transfers is about $6.36 billion. Most of the assets were stolen in about 20 minutes. According to analysts, this is the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.
Initially, it was reported that over $2 billion had been withdrawn. However, after analyzing transactions across different blockchains, the estimate of the scale of the incident has increased significantly.
TRM Labs experts have a high degree of confidence in linking the attack to the TraderTraitor group, which operates under the control of North Korea. The conclusion is based on analysis of blockchain transactions and other intelligence data.
How was the attack carried out and how much money was frozen?
According to preliminary results of Binance’s internal investigation, the attackers may have used the laptop of one of the company’s engineers, which allowed them to access the office environment and conduct unauthorized transactions to withdraw assets.
TRM Labs analysts also point to a compromise of the exchange’s hot wallet transaction signing infrastructure.
Some of the stolen assets were blocked thanks to the operational actions of cryptocurrency companies:
- Tether froze some of its USDT stablecoin funds;
Circle has blocked assets in USDC; - Ripple and World Liberty Financial also joined in blocking funds.
In total, TRM Labs estimates that about $2.7 billion was frozen. At the same time, more than $2.4 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum remains under the control of the attackers. These assets are not subject to blocking by stablecoin issuers.
How Binance reacted
After discovering the incident, the exchange temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals on several blockchain networks. The company also revoked permissions for compromised addresses and engaged law enforcement and blockchain analytics experts to track down the stolen assets.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who no longer runs the company, previously said that users’ funds were safe. He also thanked Tether and Circle for promptly freezing the assets and expressed expectations that the exchange would fully compensate customers for their losses.
Binance later officially confirmed that it would cover all losses from its own funds and the SAFU emergency insurance fund.
According to CNN, Binance assured that user funds would not be affected, despite the large-scale cyberattack.
As previously reported, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced changes for users from Ukraine. Starting September 28, the platform will stop accepting and withdrawing hryvnia through the Fiat Trade UAH service, and will also remove the USDT/UAH pair from spot trading.
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