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🇺🇸 FBI LINKS $6.3 BILLION BINANCE HACK TO NORTH KOREA AS TRUMP RESPONDS
The FBI has attributed the record-breaking Binance hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group, which has been linked to the Lazarus Group and the $1.5 billion Bybit hack.
US authorities warn that the attackers are converting stolen assets into ETH as part of efforts to launder the proceeds.
President Trump previously said the US was investigating North Korea’s involvement, adding that Binance had assured officials the situation was “pretty much under control.”
Approximately $3 billion in stolen assets have been frozen, while Binance has committed more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses.
The attack is the largest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded, raising fresh concerns about North Korea’s use of stolen digital assets to finance its operations.
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HSBC whistleblower Everett Stern says the bank got payments to a Hezbollah front past its own sanctions filter by adding dots and dashes to the name.
“The name wouldn’t match in the wire filter, and that’s how they were intentionally getting money to terrorists and drug cartels.”
Full Interview with @EverettStern1:
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BINANCE HACKERS ARE PARKING STABLECOINS IN DEFI TO DODGE FREEZES, CHAINALYSIS SAYS
Chainalysis says the attackers have been depositing stablecoins into a DeFi lending protocol on Tron since the early hours of the hack, getting back receipt tokens that issuers can't freeze.
Those tokens are moved to clean wallets, swapped back into stablecoins, then bridged off Tron into ETH, which no issuer can freeze. Circle and Tether have already helped freeze $2.8 billion, the firm says.
Separately, Chainalysis disclosed a security incident of its own that exposed some customer names and email addresses. It says the breach is unrelated to Binance.
Stablecoin freezes have been the main way to claw back funds from the hack, and this route is built to get around them.
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The Binance exploiters are rushing to stay a step of stablecoin freezes. One method we’re tracking involves stashing their stablecoins in DeFi protocols. Then claiming them back on new, clean addresses.
This method has been used on the Tron blockchain since the early hours of the $6.4 billion attack. It involves swapping TRX for stablecoins, then exchanging those stablecoins for depository receipt tokens. Unlike the stablecons they represent, these receipt tokens cannot be frozen. But they can be exchanged for the stablecoins they represent by whomever holds them. That’s an edge for prospective hackers and money launderers. Especially North Korean threat actors, who have used this method on other heists, too.
Here's how North Korea's TraderTraitor group moved $500K. Step by step.
Step 1: Start with TRX. The hackers moved TRX into a swap wallet, positioning the funds for the next stage of the laundering process.
Step 2: Swap into stablecoins. The hackers converted TRX into stablecoins through a DeFi exchange. The stablecoin offers liquidity and stability, with a catch: risk of freezing. The longer you hold illicit funds in stablecoins, the more likely its centralized issuer freezes your tokens. Circle and Tether have already contributed to $2.8 billion in freezes so far. This creates a critical vulnerability for the hackers and a potential intervention point for investigators. This is a dilemma for hackers — how to exploit stablecoin liquidity without the risk of freezing.
Steps 3 and 4: Move the stablecoins: To solve the dilemma, the hackers moved the stablecoins and deposited them in a DeFi lending protocol. In return, they received a deposit token that could not be frozen. Rather than holding stablecoin directly, they now held a token representing a claim on pooled assets. They can now transfer the claim to the asset without risking a freeze.
Steps 5 and 6: Move the claims token: The hacker moved their claim tokens to a new, clean wallet that was not tainted by association. That new wallet then converted the deposit token back to stablecoin.
Steps 7 and 8: Bridge the funds. The hackers then exfiltrated their assets from the Tron blockchain via a bridge, swapping freezable stablecoins on one side with unfreezable ETH on the other. Now the exploiter is free of worry of a freeze.
Of course, exchanging stablecoins for ETH does not make the hackers bulletproof. Chainalysis investigators analyze patterns like this to keep up with the hackers in real-time. We will continue to monitor how the blockchain is used and misused.
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When Satoshi published the Bitcoin white paper 18 years ago, little did he know he was introducing an entirely new way for the world to keep time.
Check out Blockheight by @anikmalcolm, a universal way to coordinate around Bitcoin's blockchain.
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INTRODUCING:
At Blockheight
The ₿itcoin Way of Keeping Time
@AtBlockheight
Despite Bitcoin's selloff following the Binance hack, BTC is still trading comfortably above its 200-day moving average.
Bitcoin remains between its 50-day and 200-day moving average cloud, with another 5–6% of downside cushion before testing the longer-term trend line.
Short-term weakness is clear, but the broader recovery structure has yet to break.
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HSBC whistleblower Everett Stern, who exposed money laundering inside one of the world’s biggest banks, says Bitcoin isn’t the problem.
“There’s actually more transparency, I think, in Bitcoin than we’re seeing in normal AML departments and KYC.”
Full Interview with @EverettStern1:
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BINANCE SAYS 90% OF $6.34 BILLION HACK LOSSES NOW COVERED, WITH WITHDRAWALS SET TO RESUME SUNDAY
Binance says it has restored backing for 90% of assets stolen in Thursday's hack, using its corporate treasury, SAFU emergency reserves, and Futures insurance fund.
BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC are now fully backed 1:1, according to the exchange.
The remaining 10% consists of less liquid tokens that Binance is still purchasing through market and OTC channels.
Binance also committed to replenishing its SAFU fund to approximately $1 billion and expects to publish its full cryptographic Proof of Reserves by November 3.
Withdrawals remain on track to resume Sunday, November 1.
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In honor of Bitcoin White Paper Day, a fascinating historical parallel.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther set in motion the separation of church and state.
On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto set in motion the separation of money and state.
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🇪🇺 EUROPE MOVES TOWARD NEW TAXES ON INTERNET TRAFFIC AND AI REVENUE
Yesterday, French lawmakers voted to introduce a €0.055 tax on every gigabyte of internet data delivered to French users, targeting digital content providers. The proposal could raise an estimated €10 billion annually.
Meanwhile, Germany is considering taxing revenue generated by artificial intelligence, with government ministers arguing the proceeds could help finance economic disruption and workforce changes.
Neither measure has become law.
The proposals come as European governments face mounting budget pressures, aging populations and growing pension and welfare obligations.
Add to this ongoing debates over wealth taxes and existing exit taxes in several European countries.
Europe’s fiscal pressures are growing, and governments are increasingly looking to new sources of tax revenue, including foreign technology companies, to help close the gap.
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🇯🇵 TOKYO-LISTED IOLE TO SELL ALL 151.21 BTC AND PUT THE CASH INTO AI DATA CENTERS
Iole's board voted Friday to sell the company's entire Bitcoin holding through crypto exchanges, possibly in tranches, between Oct. 30 and the end of November, according to its filing.
It expects about ¥1.831 billion at Oct. 30 prices, below the ¥2.085 billion book value, for a loss of about ¥254 million.
Iole says fast-growing cyber threats led it to rethink how it holds assets. The money goes first to AI data centers and its Neo Cloud business, where the budget rises to ¥2.6 billion.
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FOUNDATION WARNS OF NEW WAVE OF PHISHING ATTACKS
@FoundationHQ says attackers are sending new waves of phishing emails from compromised domains belonging to other companies.
The emails are not being sent from official Foundation domains.
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How would you rate Bitcoin’s price performance during the worst exchange hack of all time?
Happy White Paper Day!
Watch this 11 minute animation to fully understand the 9 page paper by Satoshi Nakamoto that changed the world.
18 years ago today, Satoshi sent 9 pages to a cryptography mailing list.
The white paper was written for cryptographers. He needed the experts to take Bitcoin seriously, so it is dense and technical.
Here is the simple version: every section explained by Satoshi, on a live 3D Bitcoin machine.
11 minutes. No prior knowledge needed.
Happy White Paper Day ₿
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Silver is less than $1 from completely wiping out its parabolic gains from the last year.
CHAINALYSIS HACKED IN AI-POWERED CYBERATTACK
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis says hackers used “offensive agentic techniques” to gain unauthorized access to its internal systems and tools.
The breach exposed customer names, email addresses, user IDs, and organizational roles.
Chainalysis says it has found no evidence that passwords, MFA secrets, session tokens, or sensitive investigation data were compromised.
The company says the attack is unrelated to the recent $6 billion Binance hack.
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One of our customers just moved all of his bitcoin, close to $10M, to Lava from one of the largest exchanges. He was done being nudged to trade and gamble on every screen.
Lava is built for people around the world who hold bitcoin and stablecoins and want a better banking experience. A trading app is not a banking app.
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The case for Multi-Institution Bitcoin Custody gets stronger with every hack and exploit.
Like the Coldcard exploit this summer, the Binance hack reminds us how devastating a single point of failure in Bitcoin custody can be.
That's why I'm glad to keep a portion of my Bitcoin with @OnrampBitcoin.
Visit to sign up for a free consultation.
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“Why Now is the Time to Buy and Hold BTC”
By @intangiblecoins
RESEARCHERS CLAIM SERIOUS FLAWS IN TAILSCALE, A TOOL MANY BITCOINERS USE TO REACH THEIR NODES
A new report says users with approved access through Tailscale's built-in SSH can take root control of machines, and the attack can spread to other devices on the network.
If you run a node through Tailscale:
- Turn off Tailscale SSH
- Update when a patch ships
Tailscale has not yet responded.
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ELECTRUM BITCOIN WALLET CONFIRMS CRITICAL SECURITY VULNERABILITY EXPLOITED IN THE WILD
Electrum has disclosed a high-severity vulnerability allowing malicious servers to trick users into sending Bitcoin to an attacker when increasing a transaction fee.
The attack works by intercepting a broadcast transaction and replacing it in the wallet’s history with a fake transaction redirecting funds to an attacker-controlled address.
If the user attempts to increase the fee using Replace-by-Fee (RBF), Electrum can sign the malicious transaction, sending the Bitcoin to the attacker.
Electrum confirmed two reported incidents, including one user who lost funds. Attackers even generated addresses matching the last four characters of the intended recipient’s address.
The vulnerability affects versions before 4.8.3 and has been patched in the latest release.
Users are urged to update immediately and verify all destination addresses and amounts before signing transactions.
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