Attack attributed to North Korea leads Binance to suspend withdrawals after billion-dollar crypto theft

One of the biggest robberies ever recorded in the cryptocurrency sector would have hit Binance on Thursday, 29. According to Revista Oeste, the criminals took more than US$6 billion, and the text classifies the episode as the biggest attack of its kind ever recorded. Tracking companies point to North Korea as likely responsible.

Numbers vary between publications. According to O Antagonista, the value reaches US$6.36 billion, something around R$34 billion, while Crusoé speaks of US$6.3 billion. The difference is small given the scale of the case, but it is worth noting the divergence before any comparison with other episodes.

According to O Antagonista, TRM Labs and Chainalysis attribute the attack to TraderTraitor, described as North Korea's main hacker unit. The same vehicle recalls that the FBI classified the group as responsible for the theft of US$ 1.5 billion from Bybit, without informing the date in the published excerpt.

Revista Oeste reports that, until Thursday night, United States time, around US$3 billion of the total had been frozen by companies in the sector. Binance temporarily suspended withdrawals and deposits on Friday, the 30th, after identifying a suspicious situation, according to O Antagonista. A call from the same publication states that the robbery took around 20 minutes, but the text does not detail how this was determined.

The case reignites the discussion about the security of brokers and custodians, who store their users' assets. When money is held by third parties, trust depends on technical controls and transparency, and an episode of this size tests both. It also draws attention that the authorship is attributed to a State, which expands the problem beyond common crime.

What changes for the investor

For those who invest and operate, the first effect is counterparty risk: when leaving crypto at a broker, the investor depends on its security and withdrawal rules, which can be suspended, as occurred at Binance. In a scenario of greater scrutiny, the debate about the responsibility of platforms tends to gain strength. The editorial line of The X-Trader News advocates that the answer comes from transparency, independent auditing and clear rules, without stifling innovation. This article is not a recommendation to buy or sell and does not project prices: the episode exposes a concrete and long-standing risk in the sector, which each investor must evaluate using their own criteria.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.