US President Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) said Washington could engage with Pyongyang if North Korea is found to be behind the $6.3 billion hack of Binance (@binance), the largest crypto e
US President Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) said Washington could engage with Pyongyang if North Korea is found to be behind the $6.3 billion hack of Binance (@binance), the largest crypto exchange theft on record. Trump said his administration is looking into the incident and acknowledged Binance's efforts to reimburse customers.
Asked in the Oval Office whether the attack should be attributed to a suspected North Korean group, Trump said "We don't know." He also criticised the nature of digital theft, comparing it with the older world of signed cheques. "These are different people, never see the money anymore," he said, adding that he has always felt crypto was "a little bit dangerous."
TraderTraitor, a North Korea-based cybercrime group, appears to be behind the Binance hacking, according to TRM Labs and Chainalysis, two blockchain intelligence firms.TRM said an attacker moved approximately USD 6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on ten blockchains, most of it in about 20 minutes.TRM noted that several aspects of the attack match earlier North Korea-linked incidents, such as the $1.5 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit last year.
Since Trump's comments, the picture has firmed up. The FBI said on Saturday that the North Korean state-sponsored unit known as TraderTraitor was responsible for the attack.Binance said it had replenished approximately 90% of the stolen assets, covering roughly $6 billion of the estimated $6.3 billion loss.The exchange also said it worked with blockchain partners to freeze roughly $3 billion in affected assets.
The breach has renewed calls for stronger crypto market oversight in the US. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig told CNBC the incident "proves our exact point in proposing regulations for crypto markets earlier this month."Selig characterized exchanges that lack the cybersecurity measures and customer protections required in US financial markets, such as Binance, as "unregulated offshore exchanges."
The proposal is voluntary. "We want to offer a federal option to these exchanges to come and register with the CFTC," Selig said, adding that they would be subject to the same cybersecurity safeguards that apply in US markets today.Registration would not be mandatory, and forcing all exchanges to register would require legislation from Congress.The proposal remains preliminary, with public comments still open.
The outcome of any US engagement with North Korea remains unclear, and Trump has not outlined what such talks would involve.
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