The biggest crypto heist ever did not happen overnight. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng told CNBC on Tuesday that the attackers “spent months building their way in,” rejecting the idea that one employee’s laptop was a single point of failure. In June, they set up a fake developer tool and tricked an engineer into installing it. In September, they posed as recruiters and ran job interviews with another engineer, ending in a coding exercise that hid malware. From there, they moved through Binance’s internal AI tools and reached the system that approves wallet transactions, leading to the Oct. 29 attack.
Binance says it has replenished 98% of the $6.34 billion in affected assets and is still buying the remaining illiquid ones. Teng did not name a culprit, but he acknowledged that the FBI has linked the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. Binance and partners like Tether, Circle and Ripple reportedly froze about $3 billion, though some stolen funds are still moving through laundering channels. Coinbase also blocked transfers to compromised wallets.
Binance says it has rebuilt the affected wallet system and AI tool, replaced compromised devices, and expanded security scans. It is also bringing in an independent expert to review everything. The hit to market confidence was sharp but short-lived.
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