币安遭60亿美元黑客攻击，冻结30亿并承诺赔付

S LARGEST CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE, SAYS IT'S WORKING TO RECOVER FUNDS AFTER THE BIGGEST CRYPTO HEIST IN HISTORY. THE COMPANY HALTED WITHDRAWALS AFTER HACKERS MADE OFF WITH $6 BILLION IN ASSETS. SINCE THEN, BINANCE HAS SAID IT HAS FROZEN $3 BILLION OF THOSE STOLEN ASSETS AND HAS SAID IT WILL COVER ANY INVESTOR LOSSES. BUT THE CYBER HEIST IS RAISING QUESTIONS ONCE AGAIN ABOUT THE SECURITY OF CRYPTO AND WHO PULLED THIS OFF.

FOR MORE ON THE RIPPLE EFFECTS ON THIS ATTACK WE TURN TO GEOFF WHITE, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR OF SEVERAL BOOKS INCLUDING, "THE LAZARUS HEIST: FROM HOLLYWOOD TO HIGH FINANCE: INSIDE NORTH KOREA'S GLOBAL CYBER WAR." THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. GEOFF W.: THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. GEOFF: HACKERS MADE OFF WITH $6 BILLION IN JUST 20 MINUTES? HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO DO THAT AND WHAT EVIDENCE POINTS TOWARD NORTH KOREA?

GEOFF W.: THE THEFT OF CRYPTOCURRENCY, IT IS DIGITAL MONEY. UNLIKE TRYING TO ROB A BANK, WITH THE CLICK OF A MOUSE AND A FEW KEYSTROKES YOU CAN TRANSFER THESE FUNDS. STEALING $6 BILLION IN UNDER 20 MINUTES SOUNDS REMARKABLE BUT IT IS JUST TYPING LINES OF CODE. IT IS AS SIMPLE AS A BANK TRANSFER TO A FRIEND OR RELATIVE. IN TERMS OF WIDE FINGERS ARE POINTING AT NORTH KOREA, THERE AREWO REAL REASONS. NORTH KOREA FOR YEARS WE HAVE SEEN THEM BEING ACCUSED OF BREAKING INTO BIG CRYPTOCURRENCY COMPANIES AND STEALING BIG AMOUNTS OF MONEY.

LAST YEAR, 2025, THEY WERE BLAMED FOR A HACK ON THE COMPANY THAT NETTED THEM $1.5 BILLION WORTH OF CRYPTO. SUDDENLY IT IS $6 BILLION. THE OTHER THING THAT HAS LED TO PEOPLE BLENDING NORTH KOREA FOR THIS IS INVESTIGATORS HAVE STARTED TRACING THE CRYPTOCURRENCY. BITCOIN IS TRACKABLE WITH THE BLOCK CHAIN, OF PUBLIC LEDGER OF MOVEMENTS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY. INVESTIGATORS HAVE NOTICED THE MONEY FROM THIS HEIST MOVING INTO WHILE THAT'S THEY CLAIM ARE NORTH KOREAN CONTROLLED WALLETS.

GEOFF: WHEN BY NANCE SAID IT IS WORKING TO RECOVER ASSETS, THAT IS HOW THEY ARE DOING IT? GEOFF W.: THE TRACING OF CRYPTOCURRENCY WILL BE A BIG PART. THE HACKERS STOLE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CRYPTO. SOME ARE CONTROLLED BY A CENTRAL ENTITY. ONE IS CALLED TETHER. WHEN TETHER DISCOVERED AND FOUND OUT THE MONEY HAD BEEN STOLEN, THEY WERE ABLE TO FREEZE THAT CURRENCY. SOMETHING LIKE $3 BILLION WORTH OF IT HAS BEEN FROZEN BECAUSE IT WAS STOLEN IN CURRENCIES THAT ARE CONTROLLABLE AND TRACKABLE.

THE OTHER HALF OF THE MONEY WAS IN CURRENCIES LIKE BITCOIN. THERE IS NO CENTRAL ENTITY, NO AUTHORITY THAT CAN PRESS A BUTTON AND PREVENT THAT MONEY FOR MOVING. IT IS IN THE WIND AND MOVING RAPIDLY. GEOFF: WHEN BINANCE PROMISES TO COVER THE LOSSES AND THEY SAY CUSTOMERS' BALANCES WILL NOT BE AFFECTED, HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE SHOULD CUSTOMERS PUT IN THAT ASSURANCE? GEOFF W.: IT IS A VERY LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY. THEY HAVE TO COVER $6 BILLION.

BINANCE SEEMS TO BE SAYING THEY HAVE THE MONEY TO DO THAT. WITH PREVIOUS HACKS, INCLUDING THE CASE I MENTIONED LAST YEAR -- $1.5 BILLION -- THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY SWINGS IN. THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY WANTS PEOP