NEW YORK – North Korean hackers were behind the theft of billions of dollars from Binance in a matter of minutes, marking the largest cryptocurrency heist ever recorded, the FBI said Saturday.
In a statement, the bureau linked this week’s attack to what it called “malicious cyber activity” carried out by a group known as TraderTraitor. The same hackers were previously blamed for the $1.5 billion breach of Bybit last year.
The FBI urged cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and other industry participants to block transactions connected to a list of digital wallet addresses. The goal is to prevent the stolen funds from being laundered and obscure their North Korean origins.
Investigators said TraderTraitor has been moving much of the stolen cryptocurrency into ethereum. The FBI warned that the hackers could next turn to decentralized finance platforms and “instant swap services” to exchange the assets.
Ari Redbord, a cryptocurrency security expert, said the attackers will likely divide the funds into smaller amounts and route them through less prominent exchanges to avoid detection. Such a laundering effort could continue for months.
“It’s bank robbery, in this case, at the speed of the Internet,” said Redbord, chief policy officer at blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs. He noted that digital transactions can also be monitored and traced in real time, giving investigators opportunities to build cases, disrupt the operation and recover the money.
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“It’s just this cat and mouse game,” he added.
The breach occurred Thursday, when $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currencies was taken from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Several industry specialists said the attack showed signs associated with North Korean cyber operations.
Binance said Saturday that it had reserves covering 90% of the stolen assets in the same digital currencies. The exchange also pledged to reimburse customers in full.
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Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.
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