The FBI has said that hackers linked to North Korea were responsible for stealing roughly 6.3 billion dollars in cryptocurrency from the exchange Binance, according to reporting carried in Sunday's news bulletins. If confirmed, the theft would rank among the largest cryptocurrency heists ever recorded, eclipsing a string of earlier attacks on exchanges and crypto platforms over the past several years.
Cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance act as marketplaces where people buy, sell, and store digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Because large exchanges hold enormous pools of digital assets in centralized systems, they have long been prime targets for sophisticated hacking operations capable of exploiting weaknesses in software, employee access, or the digital wallets used to move funds between accounts. Investigators and private security researchers have for years pointed to state linked hacking groups as being behind some of the largest thefts in the industry, citing the technical sophistication and the patterns used to launder stolen funds through multiple digital wallets and exchanges before cashing out.
Details on exactly how the Binance theft was carried out had not been fully disclosed as of Sunday. Exchanges that suffer major breaches typically work with law enforcement and outside security firms to trace stolen funds across the blockchain, the public ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions, in an effort to freeze or recover assets before they can be converted into untraceable cash. Recovery in cases of this size is often partial at best, and investigations can take months or years to fully unwind.
The scale of the reported theft is likely to renew attention on how exchanges secure customer funds and on the broader vulnerability of the cryptocurrency industry to large, coordinated attacks, even as digital assets have become more mainstream and more heavily regulated in markets including the United States.
Binance and law enforcement agencies are expected to provide further updates on the investigation and on any efforts to recover the stolen funds in the days ahead.
How much was stolen from Binance?
The FBI said the theft totaled roughly 6.3 billion dollars in cryptocurrency.
Who does the FBI say is responsible?
The FBI has attributed the theft to hackers linked to North Korea.