Key Takeaways:
- North Korea has denied that state-sponsored cyber criminals raided about $6.3 billion in cryptocurrencies from Binance.
- The FBI reports that the attack was executed by a North Korea cyber unit known as TraderTraitor, which it estimates is moving large volumes of cryptocurrency after the attack into Ether.
- Binance states that it has already reimbursed nearly 95% of the sum up to now, and that withdrawals have restarted in stages.
After the FBI formally accused a state-sponsored hacking campaign called TraderTraitor, North Korea issued denials for the record-breaking attack on Binance.
The dispute comes as investigators track billions of dollars in stolen crypto moving across blockchains, DeFi protocols and swap services.
Read More: Binance $6.3B Hack Triggers FBI Probe While $3B in Stolen Crypto Gets Frozen
North Korea Rejects FBI Attribution for Binance Hack
Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official and sister of leader Kim Jong Un, dismissed the US allegation as politically motivated and described the FBI’s claim as “absurd rhetoric,” according to state media.
They had been involved in stealing more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance around October 29 according to the FBI. Binance also pegged the estimated loss at approximately $6.3 billion on its own.
The operation, formerly known as TraderTraitor, could be related to North Korea’s crypto-related hacking efforts, U.S. investigators have concluded.
Stolen Crypto Is Being Shifted Into Ethereum
The FBI stated that it has seen these attackers turning the stolen assets into Ether, with more anticipated to be rendered through DeFi venues and instant-swap platforms.
Authorities have requested the crypto exchanges, DeFi services, blockchain analytics firms and other participants in this industry to freeze transactions from these wallets of dubious origin.
The size of the theft made it one of the largest ever in the crypto security area. The USDC value of 1.1 billion or more as of Nov. 2 is frozen, whereas $3.28 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ether are still in the hands of hackers, Reuters reported.
Binance Covers Losses as Billions Leave the Exchange
There were also significant withdrawals that were made from Binance due to the hack. After reopening withdrawals, customers withdrew a net $4.72 billion, with approximately $2.7B returns flowing back after the opening. The withdrawals accounted for about 3% of all assets on the platform, said Binance, and outflows were starting to level off.
Binance has stated numerous times that users will not bear any financial burden. According to the exchange, by November 2, it had received about 95% of the amount. It’s resting on the latest Proof of Reserves update where the percentages of the tokens backed were 1:1 for ETC, USDT, BTC, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1 and ZEC.
Read More: Binance Restores 15 Networks After $6.3B Hack While Outflows Surge to $5.8B
Crypto Investigators Focus on the Laundering Trail
The main issue now is how much of the remaining crypto could be ‘frozen’ to be dispersed among more wallets, chains, and liquidity markets.
The clearness that blockchain transactions provide, enables investigators to follow a trail. The challenge is speed because after being moved through cross-chain infrastructure, decentralized exchanges and instant swaps, it can be difficult to recover the stolen assets.
The FBI said it expects TraderTraitor to continue attempting to obscure the origin of the stolen funds as the laundering process develops.
