Hackers steal $6.3 billion from Binance in record heist blamed on North Korea
CRCL•Hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance in an attack analysts blamed on North Korea. Binance said it would cover the losses and that about $3 billion had been located so far.
1. Binance to cover losses
Binance said it had set aside about $6.34 billion in company funds to cover the stolen assets and that customer funds were safe. The exchange halted withdrawals and said it expected to resume them within 48 hours; about $3 billion of the stolen assets had been located.
2. Stablecoins frozen
Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million. Binance said the attack involved a compromised laptop and malicious software, and that hackers manipulated a system used to approve transactions.
3. Analysts blame North Korea
TRM Labs and Chainalysis said they were highly confident North Korea was responsible. Bitcoin fell to a six-week low of $76,368 and ether dropped more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178 before markets stabilized.
