US President Donald Trump said that Washington has not yet determined whether North Korea was behind the attack on the Binance crypto exchange, in which about $6.3 billion in virtual assets were withdrawn.
“We are looking into it. We don't know if it's North Korea, but if it is, we will discuss it with them“, Trump told reporters at the White House.
His statement was made on October 30, before the FBI released its official assessment of the origin of the attack. On October 31, the bureau named North Korea as responsible for the theft and linked the operation to the TraderTraitor group.
Discrepancy between FBI assessment and Trump's words
The FBI said that North Korean hackers stole more than $6 billion in digital assets from Binance around October 29. According to the bureau, the funds began to be transferred primarily to the Ethereum network, where they could then be exchanged and transferred through decentralized financial services.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs also attributed the attack with a high degree of confidence to TraderTraitor. It estimates that about $6.36 billion left Binance wallets across 10 blockchain networks, with the bulk of the transaction occurring in approximately 20 minutes.
Binance vows to cover losses
Binance temporarily halted withdrawals on several networks after the breach was discovered. The company said that about $3 billion of the affected assets had been frozen through cooperation with token issuers, other exchanges, blockchain companies and law enforcement.
The exchange said it would absorb the financial impact and cover customer losses through its SAFU fund and corporate treasury. According to Binance, more than $6.34 billion was taken, with about $5 billion of that in the same types of assets that were stolen.
The company said that initial investigation pointed to a compromised laptop, but subsequent analysis found other points of entry. So far, there are no reports of any wallet private keys being leaked.
The FBI, Secret Service and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division have called on crypto exchanges, blockchain infrastructure operators and exchange service providers to block transactions linked to the attackers’ addresses. Binance said the investigation is ongoing and that it will publish a technical report once the facts are confirmed.
Sources: apnews.com, washingtonpost.com