Trump Says Probe Is Underway Into Whether North Korea Was Behind $6.3 Billion Binance Hack

President Donald Trump said US authorities are investigating whether North Korea was behind the $6.3 billion hack targeting Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on October 30 that it was not yet clear whether North Korean hackers were responsible and that the matter was under investigation, according to Bloomberg. "Hacking is the problem," he said. "In the old days, you signed a check and took the money. Now it's done differently." He added that in some cases the money is never recovered and that he had always viewed it as somewhat risky.

The attack was the largest hack in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. Binance said it temporarily suspended withdrawals immediately after the incident and would fully cover the losses. In a post on its official X account, the exchange said about $3 billion of the stolen assets had been frozen on blockchain networks.

North Korea's Lazarus Group is widely known for repeatedly targeting the cryptocurrency industry. The FBI and cybersecurity experts have said North Korea was involved in several major crypto thefts in recent years.