$6.36 Billion in Assets Stolen, Including 18,270 Bitcoins
TraderTraitor, a hacker group linked to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, stole as much as $6.36 billion in crypto assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Oct. 29. Of that, bitcoin alone was worth $1.4 billion, totaling 18,270 coins, implying a price of about $78,500 per bitcoin. Both the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs blamed the attack on TraderTraitor. The group has long been regarded as a North Korean government-backed hacking organization that routinely steals funds through cyberattacks to evade international sanctions and finance its regime.
Stolen Bitcoin Surpasses Tesla, Closing In on SpaceX Holdings
The amount of stolen bitcoin is staggering, surpassing the 11,509 coins held by electric-vehicle giant Tesla and 2.3 times the roughly 7,820 coins held by El Salvador. It is also just 442 coins short of the 18,712 bitcoins owned by space exploration company SpaceX. This highlights the enormous value and liquidity of bitcoin as a digital asset, as well as the massive financial impact cybercrime can cause. Market participants are watching the potential impact of such a large single theft on bitcoin liquidity and confidence in exchange security.
Moved in 11 Tranches in 20 Minutes, $3 Billion Frozen
On Oct. 29, the hackers moved the 18,270 bitcoins from Binance's hot wallet to a new wallet address in 11 tranches in about 20 minutes, then dispersed them across 19 wallets. Despite the anonymity and tracking difficulty of cryptocurrency, Binance acted swiftly and had successfully frozen about $3 billion of the stolen funds on-chain as of the morning of Oct. 31. Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle also helped block transfers from specific wallets. Binance said that as of Nov. 1, it had recovered about 95% of the stolen assets and compensated customer losses using company funds and reserves.
Previously Stole $1.5 Billion from Bybit; Trump Says He Is Monitoring
In fact, TraderTraitor attacked cryptocurrency exchange Bybit last February, stealing $1.5 billion in assets. Binance's preliminary investigation suggests the attack may have originated from the compromise of an engineer's laptop, with additional intrusion points later discovered, but there is no evidence that private keys to the crypto wallets were leaked. In response to the incident, U.S. President Trump told reporters on Oct. 31 that he was monitoring the incident but not worried, and said that if the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was indeed involved, he would discuss it with them.