Binance Hack Triggers Record Crypto Theft
North Korean-linked hackers stole 18,270 bitcoins worth approximately $1.4 billion (1.87 trillion won) from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance on October 29, hankyung.com reported. The stolen digital assets exceed the bitcoin holdings of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla by 59 percent and surpass North Korea’s total annual commodity exports by threefold, according to industry figures cited by the outlet.
Stolen Holdings Dwarf Corporate and National Reserves
The stolen bitcoin volume totals 18,270 coins, valued at roughly $78,500 per coin. That amount edges out the 18,071 bitcoins held by Coinbase for operational and investment purposes at the end of September, and closely approaches the 18,712 bitcoins held by SpaceX. Tesla holds 11,509 bitcoins. Compared to sovereign holdings, the stolen sum is roughly 2.3 times larger than the 7,820 bitcoins held by the government of El Salvador. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) calculated North Korea’s total commodity exports last year at $468.59 million, making the stolen bitcoin value roughly three times that annual export figure.
🚨 FBI CONFIRMS NORTH KOREA BEHIND $6.3B BINANCE HACKUS authorities formally attribute the record breach to Pyongyang, escalating sanctions and state-sponsored cybercrime concerns.#NorthKorea #Binance #FBI #Crypto pic.twitter.com/ULf54CXbs8
Broader Crypto Losses and Ethereum Accumulation
The security breach extended beyond bitcoin to include ether and stablecoins, bringing the total estimated theft to about $6.3 billion (8.415 trillion won). This marks the largest single cryptocurrency hacking loss on record, eclipsing the $1.5 billion taken from Bybit by North Korean-linked actors in February of last year. Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery tracked public transaction records showing the attackers held 525,201 ethers as of October 31. That total includes the initial theft plus other cryptocurrencies converted into ether, putting their holdings above the 495,362 ethers held by ‘The Ether Machine’.
Investigation and Asset Recovery Efforts
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) formally identified the hacker group ‘TraderTraitor’ as the entity responsible for the attack on October 31. ‘TraderTraitor’ was also linked to the Bybit hack last year. Binance reported that it has successfully recovered or frozen approximately $3 billion of the stolen assets on the blockchain. The exchange is deploying internal funds to cover customer losses while investigating how the breach occurred and mapping any additional unauthorized entry points.
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