Binance hit by $6 billion hack... North Korean hacker group suspected behind it, CNN reports

[Financial News]  Several crypto-asset analytics firms and law enforcement agencies investigating the largest-ever hack, in which more than $6 billion (about 8 trillion won) in crypto assets were stolen from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, are pointing to a hacking group under North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau as being behind the attack.
On the 30th, local time, CNN reported that major analytics firms, including global crypto-tracing firm TRM Labs, Singapore-based Pangolin Intelligence and Chainalysis, had concluded with a high degree of confidence, based on analysis of on-chain data and previous attack patterns, that a North Korean hacking group was responsible.
A Pangolin Intelligence representative said, “The ‘cat-and-mouse game’ between North Korea, which is trying to cash out using money-laundering networks, and the law enforcement agencies trying to stop it has only just begun.”
According to U.S. and South Korean government officials, crypto hacking has become a key source of revenue for the North Korean regime, which is struggling financially under sanctions, helping cover the costs of nuclear and missile development. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security also immediately launched investigations.
Binance founder and largest shareholder Changpeng Zhao sought to reassure users in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “This appears to be a hack, and the exchange will fully reimburse users for their losses.”
News of the largest-ever security breach sent the crypto market reeling. Prices of major crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), plunged immediately after the news broke, but recovered some of their losses after Binance announced it would fully compensate users and reports emerged that some funds had been frozen. They are now down 2–3%. Experts say the incident has once again exposed regulatory gaps in the emerging crypto industry and security vulnerabilities at exchanges.
Investigators found that the hackers siphoned off funds by accessing internal service containers through a Binance engineer’s laptop and then submitting unauthorized withdrawal requests.
Binance took emergency measures immediately after the incident, temporarily suspending deposits and withdrawals and revoking approvals for addresses used in the hack. Binance officially stated, “We will use our own funds and emergency asset fund to fully compensate for the losses, and users’ assets are safe.” The company has now succeeded in freezing stolen assets worth about $3 billion in cooperation with private security firms and law enforcement agencies, but a tense chase with the hackers over the remaining funds continues.
This incident set a record for the largest losses from a single hack in the history of the crypto industry. The previous record was also set by North Korean hackers, who stole $1.5 billion from Bybit, but this incident is several times that figure.
[email protected] Yoon Jae-joon Reporter