Following a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by a North Korean hacking group that resulted in the theft of over 8 trillion won in digital assets, Binance hacking fallout continued as nearly 5 trillion won in funds experienced net outflows within just half a day of resuming withdrawals.
Binance reported that after gradually reopening withdrawals on the 1st, a total of $4.649 billion was withdrawn while $1.01 billion was deposited up to 0:30 AM Korea time on the 2nd.
Consequently, the net outflow reached approximately $3.64 billion, which translates to about 4.85 trillion won in Korean currency.
This figure accounts for 2.1% of Binance’s total assets under management, which stood at $171 billion as of the 28th of last month.
Previously, Binance announced on the 29th of last month that unauthorized withdrawals amounting to $6.3 billionโroughly 8.4 trillion won worth of virtual assetsโoccurred due to a security breach.
This marks the largest single hacking incident in the history of the virtual asset industry.
Investigators discovered that the attacker exploited vulnerabilities in a Binance engineer’s compromised laptop and the transaction approval system.
Immediately following the incident, Binance suspended withdrawals and initiated system maintenance to safeguard user assets.
On the 31st of last month, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified the North Korean hacking group ‘TraderTraitor’ as the mastermind behind the attack.
TraderTraitor was also previously identified by the FBI as the hacking group responsible for stealing approximately $1.5 billion from the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit last year.
The FBI stated that it has detected signs that this organization is converting the virtual assets stolen from Binance primarily into Ethereum.
Binance has maintained its stance that it will fully shoulder the losses resulting from the hack without passing the financial burden onto its users.
Richard Teng, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Binance, stated that safety has been prioritized during the service restoration process and that the financial impact of the stolen funds will be borne entirely by Binance rather than its customers.
However, with trillions of won flooding out in a short period following the resumption of withdrawals immediately after the massive hack, investor anxiety does not appear to have fully subsided.
