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Blockchain intelligence firms link North Korea to $6.3B hack on Binance

170 points • by paulpauper • today at 3:39 PM • 108 comments • view on HN

Comments

gradus_ad • today at 6:37 PM

Crypto enthusiasts misunderstand what a financial system/financial architecture is. It is not the fiat currencies themselves, but rather the power architecture that controls and oversees value and exchange in whatever form it takes. Crypto has been entirely subsumed into this architecture through the exchanges which are obviously beholden to the holders of real power, i.e. governments.

This is to say, the stated goal and the target of the crypto enthusiasts are misaligned. To transcend the institutions represented by the fiat system requires far more than creating some alternative "currency", rather it requires creating an entirely new power structure.

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jstummbillig • today at 6:23 PM

Man, if only there existed some central societal body with the authority to essentially freeze accounts and unwind a transaction like this. What a security feature that would be.

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sandeepkd • today at 4:49 PM

At this point it feels like they have made it a /dev/null for things which are not easy to resolve and one is still on the hook to provide some answers

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ano-ther • today at 5:38 PM

Here is the underlying report from TRM: https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-us...

78401-236124950 • today at 8:43 PM

No surprises there - of course they linked it to NK... These parasitic intelligence firms are draining taxpayer money because law enforcement agencies lack blockchain expertise and constantly outsource their investigations. We’ve already seen cases where firms like Chainalysis and TRM provided flawed data that led to innocent people being wrongfully charged. Worse yet, their operations rely on backroom cooperation with private intelligence mercenaries, trading illegally obtained data on private citizens worldwide.

Yet, they consistently fail to trace truly sophisticated threat actors, like the 2017 Parity Wallet hacker or the KyberSwap exploiter. These individuals continue to cash out massive amounts year after year, completely undisturbed. Pathetic companies like SlowMist can only continue making wet dream Twitter posts each year, promising that they will "catch them soon!", looking even more pathetic.

"ThE iNdUsTry iS WaTcHiNg!"

ilamont • today at 4:45 PM

A question: how come the North Koreans aren't draining banks in the U.S. and other countries of cash using equally sophisticated exploits against known technical and human vulnerabilities?

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_HMCB_ • today at 6:13 PM

How can they be brought to justice, as stated, if they’re state sponsored? And how do members get their crypto back? There’s 6+ billion in insurance to back what was stolen?

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asftq • today at 5:23 PM

I didn't know there were Effective Altruists in North Korea. Will they do AI data centers next to increase NK's popularity?

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ratCola2001 • today at 6:31 PM

#beastmode

gsky • today at 6:02 PM

It makes no semse. Since Binance is Chinese company North Korea would not dare to attack it

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pasquinelli • today at 6:38 PM

now if they weren't sanctioned they would've had no reason to do this. classic case of perverse incentives.

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nusoone • today at 4:50 PM

Glad binance is posting updates directly on X so we don’t have to read propaganda

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