Binance Hackers Accumulate More Bitcoin Than Coinbase's Corporate Treasury — Cryptocurrencies and blockchain

Attackers behind the $6.3 billion Binance breach held 18,270 BTC early Friday, surpassing Coinbase's reported corporate holdings of 18,071 BTC, while also amassing over 500,000 ETH.

The group responsible for the massive $6.3 billion hack on Binance has accumulated a Bitcoin stash that exceeds the corporate treasury of major exchange Coinbase. As of early Friday, blockchain analytics firm Bitquery traced 18,270 BTC, valued at approximately $1.4 billion, to 19 addresses linked to the attackers. This figure surpasses Coinbase's reported holdings for investment and operations as of September 30, which totaled 18,071 BTC. Specifically, Coinbase held 17,954 BTC for investment purposes and an additional 117 BTC for operational needs, meaning the hackers' haul exceeded the exchange's total by 199 coins. It is noted that Coinbase's reported figures do not include Bitcoin held on behalf of its customers.

According to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net, Coinbase ranks eighth among publicly traded companies based on its investment balance of 17,954 BTC. The stolen assets were taken from Binance hot wallets during a breach that impacted nine different blockchains in under four hours on Thursday. Bitquery's analysis indicates that 17 of the attackers' Bitcoin addresses each held 1,000 BTC, with the remaining coins distributed across two other wallets.

Beyond Bitcoin, the attackers also amassed a significant quantity of Ether. Bitquery traced 508,621 ETH to the group by Friday, a figure that exceeds the 495,362 ETH attributed to The Ether Machine, which ranks third on corporate Ether holder lists. The initial theft included 200,630 ETH, with the remainder accumulated through the swapping of stolen stablecoins and other tokens.

Binance confirmed the $6.3 billion hack on Friday, stating that approximately $3 billion in stolen assets had been frozen. The exchange has pledged to cover all losses resulting from the incident. While investigators initially suspected a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, Binance noted that additional breach points have since been uncovered. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a hacking group linked to North Korea.

Sources: Cointelegraph.