“Shocking” numbers regarding the largest theft in the world witnessed by the Binance digital currency platform.. Here is what we know and what experts say

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.

Hackers have succeeded in hacking digital wallets on the Binance platform, which is the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the world. Binance 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 make unauthorized withdrawals."

Binance confirmed that it will cover all losses from “company funds” and a contingent asset fund, adding that “user funds are safe.” The cryptocurrency exchange also announced that it had "temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals pending completion of security checks; revoked the authorization of the affected address; and has enlisted the help of law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds."

Analysts were shocked by the amount of money affected. “It is the biggest hack in history,” Aravind Srinivasan, head of systematic trading at GSR, one of the largest cryptocurrency market makers, told Reuters. TRM Labs, which specializes in tracking digital currencies, attributed the hack to an elite North Korean hacking unit, “based on strong intelligence on and off the blockchain.”

Pangolin Intelligence, another blockchain company based in Singapore, announced that it also believes a North Korean hacking unit is behind the theft. An analyst at Pangolin Intelligence, who requested to remain anonymous in order to protect his privacy, said that “analyzing the activity on the blockchain related to this hack, and comparing it to information collected from previous known incidents [in which the North Korean hacking unit was involved],” is what led to identifying the responsible party.

The same analyst added to Ufoq News: “I think the cat and mouse game has not started yet,” noting that North Korea is likely preparing to use a network of money laundering organizations to try to disburse the stolen money. Chainalysis, another company that specializes in tracking cryptocurrencies, said it was monitoring stolen funds “moving across multiple blockchains,” including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

A company spokesperson told Ofoq News that they have "high confidence" that North Korea is behind this hacking operation. Ofek News contacted the North Korean mission to the United Nations to obtain a comment, noting that Pyongyang had previously denied allegations of its involvement in electronic hacking operations.

Ofek News also requested comment from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Secret Service, which also investigates cybercrimes. In previous investigations into major cryptocurrency hacks, the FBI hired a team of specialized analysts who worked to freeze part of the stolen funds.

If North Korea's involvement is proven, it would come as little surprise to US law enforcement officials or independent experts. North Korean hackers have been accused in a previous record-breaking hack that allegedly stole $1.5 billion from PayBit, another major cryptocurrency trading platform. In that incident, the attackers were able to steal an amount equivalent to a large portion of North Korea's declared annual gross domestic product, within a matter of minutes.

According to current and former officials from the United States and South Korea, North Korea's powerful hacking teams are a major source of revenue for the regime, which has nuclear weapons and is suffering under the weight of international sanctions, and reports from the United Nations and private companies indicate that hackers linked to Pyongyang have stolen billions of dollars from banks and cryptocurrency companies over the past few years. In a 2023 investigation by Ofaq News, it was highlighted how the South Korean intelligence service cooperated with independent experts tracking cryptocurrencies to recover about $1 million in digital currencies stolen by North Koreans from a victim.

Unlike stock trading platforms, cryptocurrency trading platforms tend to hold digital assets on behalf of their users, making them more vulnerable to hacking and theft, especially in light of the lack of regulatory oversight in this sector, which is still in its early stages. The Binance platform was founded in 2017 by Canadian citizen Zhang Ping Zhao, and quickly became the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in the world within just one year of its launch.

However, Zhao stepped down in 2023 after pleading guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws. He was sentenced to four months in federal prison, before being pardoned by President Donald Trump in October last year.

Zhao - who no longer runs the platform but is still its largest shareholder - stated on the “X” platform that the incident appears to be a hacking operation, expressing his expectation that the platform will cover users’ funds in full. The prices of Bitcoin and Ether - the most widely traded cryptocurrencies - witnessed a sharp decline following the news of the Binance hack, but they later recovered part of their losses, recording a decline ranging between 2% and 3% by mid-Friday in Hong Kong.