Federal investigators identified TraderTraitor as the hacking operation that compromised an engineer’s laptop to pull off last week’s theft. Binance pledges to fully reimburse customers.
The FBI on Saturday blamed North Korea for the theft of a record $6.3 billion in digital assetsfrom Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The agency identified the alleged perpetrators as TraderTraitor, a hacking operation previously tied to several major heists, including last year’s then-record $1.5 billion hack of the crypto exchange Bybit.
The FBI said it has observed TraderTraitor converting
The FBI said it has observed TraderTraitor converting stolen funds primarily into Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency. The agency warned the haul from Binance might next be moved through decentralized-finance platforms and token-swapping services designed to help obscure their origin.
“It is expected these assets will then be further laundered by converting them using DeFi and instant swap services as they prepare them for further laundering stages,” the FBI said in a statement.
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As investigators continued to track the missing tokens, Binance reassured customers that they would be fully reimbursed.
We’ve now replenished 90% of the stolen assets,
“We’ve now replenished 90% of the stolen assets, and we’re committed to covering the remaining 10%,” co-chief executive officer Richard Teng said on X. “Our users will not bear the financial impact of this incident.”
Binance said it froze about $3 billion worth of crypto and temporarily suspended withdrawals while investigating the breach. The company, founded in 2017 by billionaire Changpeng Zhao, has also begun restoring access to customer accounts.
Source: www.inc.com
