NORTH KOREA ACCUSED OF PULLING OFF THE BIGGEST CRYPTO HEIST IN HISTORY — $6 BILLION REPORTEDLY STOLEN!
Three blockchain intelligence firms are pointing fingers at North Korea over an alleged cryptocurrency theft worth more than $6 billion, potentially making it the largest crypto heist ever reported.
According to reports, hackers exploited access through a Binance engineer’s laptop to carry out the massive operation. The alleged haul is four times larger than the previous record: the $1.5 billion Bybit theft, also attributed to North Korean hackers.
TRM Labs, Chainalysis and Singapore-based Pangolin Intelligence have all linked the operation to North Korea’s elite cyber-hacking units. Chainalysis reportedly expressed “high confidence” in its attribution.
So far, approximately $3 billion has reportedly been frozen. Binance says it will cover affected customers, while investigators are tracking the remaining funds as they move across different blockchain networks.
U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly identified cryptocurrency theft as a major source of revenue for Pyongyang, helping the heavily sanctioned country generate funds despite international restrictions.
If the allegations are confirmed, the scale of this operation would represent an extraordinary financial windfall for a country whose annual economic output is estimated to be far smaller.
Source: CNN, TRM Labs, Chainalysis