The FBI has blamed North Korea for an attack that took about $6.3 billion in digital assets from Binance around 29 October. Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, a service where people buy and sell digital currencies. The FBI identified the activity as TraderTraitor.
Binance initially said an engineer's compromised laptop might have given the attackers access to its systems. However, investigators later found other security breaches. The company described the incident as a complex attack and is working with law enforcement to investigate it.
The exchange temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while it carried out security checks. On 1 November, it began restoring withdrawals in stages, starting with networks and assets that users had requested most during the previous week. Deposits remained open.
Binance says it has now covered about 95% of the stolen amount. The remaining 5% consists of less liquid tokens, meaning they are harder to buy in the quantities needed. The company is purchasing these through market trades and direct deals. It has set aside more than $6.34 billion from its own funds and says it will cover all the losses rather than pass them on to users.
