Roughly $3 billion of the stolen assets have potentially been located and frozen across several exchanges, though recovery remains uncertain, according to NBC News. Binance has stated that customer withdrawals should resume by Sunday, while deposits were unaffected and continue to operate normally.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng described the attack as complex and indicated that more than one hacker was involved. The attacker also employed a self-destruct mechanism, which has hindered the investigation and tracing of the stolen funds. Teng assured that customer assets are safe, with the hack specifically targeting Binance's corporate holdings.
Reports from The New York Post suggest the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor is suspected of orchestrating the attack. Analytics firm TRM Labs and industry insiders indicate that cybercriminals accessed Binance wallets within 20 minutes by compromising an engineer's laptop. The US Secret Service is reportedly assisting in the tracking of the stolen cryptocurrency.
The hack has caused significant volatility in cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin and Ether experiencing notable drops.