“Binance” platform.. What did Trump say about “the largest hacking operation in the world”?

US President Donald Trump said on Friday afternoon that officials are following up on the recent hacking of the Binance cryptocurrency platform - which was described as the largest of its kind in the world. Trump added, while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office: “We don’t know...

They say the situation is largely under control. In response to a question about the possibility of recovering the stolen money, he replied: “Well, they say they will recover it...

They say they guarantee it or something.” He concluded his speech by saying that he “has always considered cryptocurrencies to be a bit risky.”

Hackers stole more than $6 billion in cryptocurrencies on Thursday, setting a record for the largest theft of its kind, while multiple investigators pointed the finger at North Korea. By Thursday evening, US time, a team including companies specializing in cryptocurrencies had managed to freeze about $3 billion in stolen funds, in the midst of a frantic race with pirates to locate and control these digital funds.

The platform announced late Thursday evening that its initial investigations indicate that the hack occurred via an engineer's laptop, "enabling the attacker to access the service container and perform unauthorized withdrawals." It confirmed that it would cover all losses from “company funds” and the emergency asset fund, adding that “users’ funds are safe.”

The digital currency trading platform also announced that it "temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals pending completion of security checks; and has enlisted the help of law enforcement agencies to track and recover funds." Analysts were shocked by the amount of money affected, and Aravind Srinivas, head of trading at GSR, one of the largest digital currency market makers, told Reuters: “It is the biggest hack in history.”

Cryptocurrency tracking company TRM Labs attributed the hack to an elite North Korean hacking unit, “based on strong intelligence.”