Around $6.3 billion worth of digital currency has been stolen from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. The American investigative agency FBI has blamed North Korean hackers for this theft. According to the agency, hackers stole billions of dollars worth of digital currency within minutes. This is being called the biggest heist in the history of cryptocurrency.
The FBI issued a statement on Saturday saying that a hacker group called ‘TraderTraitor’ was behind the attack. Last year, the same group stole $1.5 billion worth of digital currency from crypto exchange Bybit. The FBI has sought help from the world’s crypto exchanges, companies that monitor transactions on the blockchain, and other related organizations. The agency has asked them to block the addresses of those digital wallets that are related to the stolen amount. This prevents hackers from hiding the source of the stolen money by sending it to another account.
The stolen amount is converted into Ethereum
An FBI investigation revealed that hackers are primarily converting stolen digital currencies into Ethereum. The agency fears that they will now use DeFi and instant swap services to convert these amounts into other cryptocurrencies.
DeFi is a financial service that works on blockchain technology without banks or any other traditional institution. At the same time, with the Instant Swap service, one digital currency can be instantly converted into another digital currency.
Binance promised to compensate for the loss
On Thursday, about $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currencies was stolen from Binance. Many crypto experts also linked this attack method to North Korean hackers. The company said on Saturday that it has enough money in reserve to cover 90% of the stolen digital currency. Also, he assured the customers that the losses incurred by them will be fully compensated. The FBI has urged crypto companies to block wallets linked to stolen money, so hackers can’t hide it by sending it to other accounts.
