Binance hit by record $6.3bn hack after months-long North Korea-linked campaign
Briefing by News4U · First published
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered the largest online theft when North Korea-linked hackers stole $6.3 billion after a months-long campaign that began with fake job interviews and compromised an engineer’s laptop and internal systems, allowing attackers to drain wallets via Ethereum’s EIP-7702 mechanism. The exchange said it would cover all losses, froze about half the targeted funds, and reported $4.6 billion in withdrawals and $1 billion in deposits, resulting in a net outflow of $3.6 billion, or 2.1% of its $171 billion assets under management. Former CEO Changpeng Zhao warned of crypto scammers circulating fake compensation offers, and investors pulled funds from US Bitcoin ETFs. [1] [2] [3]
Sources
- Binance battles to save its brand after record $6.3bn crypto hack
The Guardian · · Excerpt
- Binance's $6.3 billion hack began with a fake job interview, and a campaign 'built over many months'
CoinDesk · · Summary only
- Binance Says Hackers Plotted $6.3 Billion Heist for Months
NY Times · · Summary only