Trump comments on North Korean cyberattack

Donald Trump stated on Friday that the United States was seeking to determine if North Korean cybercriminals were responsible for a recent cyberattack, saying, "We are examining the issue," during a press briefing.

TRM Labs identifies hacker group

The analysis company TRM Labs estimates with a high degree of confidence that the attack was carried out by TraderTraitor, a group of hackers affiliated with Pyongyang. This group has been linked to several cyberattacks in the past.

FBI attributes $1.5 billion theft to North Korean hackers

The FBI had attributed the $1.5 billion theft suffered by the Bybit platform in February 2025 to the same group of hackers. This is the largest such theft in the cryptocurrency sector to date.

Bybit freezes half of stolen funds

Approximately half of the targeted funds, about $3 billion, have been frozen by the platform's partners, and these operations continue, according to Binance. The platform is working with partners to trace and secure the funds.

Binance confirms complex attack and freezes withdrawals

The world's largest cryptocurrency trading platform by volume, Binance, acknowledged a "complex attack" and suspended customer withdrawals. Its preliminary investigation pointed to the hacking of a collaborator's laptop, with "additional points of breach" later identified.

Binance allocates $6.34 billion to cover losses

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng stated that the platform had set aside over $6.34 billion in its own funds to cover the stolen assets. He emphasized that customer funds were not affected and that the attack targeted an internet-connected wallet belonging to Binance.

Binance assures users of withdrawal restoration

Teng said the platform hoped to allow users to make withdrawals before the deadline of Sunday, or "within 40 hours." The service, currently being rebuilt, would not be restored until it had passed rigorous tests.

Binance to publish reserve proof report

Binance will publish a reserve proof report on Monday allowing for public verification of its assets. This move aims to reassure users and investors about the platform's financial integrity.

Bitcoin price drops amid market uncertainty

Around 20:40 GMT, bitcoin was trading at $76,930, down 3.7% over 24 hours. The market was also affected by the decline in technology stocks on Wall Street due to concerns over spending volumes in AI.

Market analysts downplay the impact

Stéphane Ifrah, an analyst from the French platform Coinhouse, estimated that the market "is not in panic mode" and mentioned the impact was "very, very limited."

FBI acknowledges the incident and investigates

The FBI, questioned by AFP, stated it was "informed of the incident" and said it was working with public and private partners to "understand its scope, assess potential consequences, and coordinate investigative measures."

U.S. Justice Department does not confirm investigation

The U.S. Department of Justice did not confirm the existence of an investigation and reminded that the platform remained "required to cooperate with law enforcement" under the plea deal concluded in 2023.

CFTC criticizes unregulated crypto platforms

Michael Selig, chairman of the CFTC, the American regulator of derivative markets, stated on CNBC that "the real problem" was that these were "offshore, unregulated platforms, which do not have the same safeguards as our financial markets in the United States."

AI models refute theoretical computer science conjecture

This attack occurs as OpenAI and Anthropic announced this week that they had refuted, using their AI models, a theoretical computer science conjecture on the speed of solving certain logical problems. This result has no practical consequences for encryption systems, according to the two groups.

No evidence of cryptographic vulnerability exploited

Nothing indicates at this stage that the attack on Binance exploited a cryptographic vulnerability. The breach appears to have been due to human error and internal control failures rather than a flaw in encryption.