Binance Hackers Race to Convert $6.3B in Stolen Stablecoins

Binance hackers — Attackers behind the $6.3 billion Binance hack raced to convert stolen stablecoins into Bitcoin and Ether before issuers could freeze the assets, in the largest crypto heist on record.

The hack began at 8:04 pm UTC on Thursday, with perpetrators linked to North Korean hackers immediately converting assets like USDT and USDC into cryptocurrencies that cannot be frozen by a central issuer. CertiK engineer Dickson Wu traced $500 million in USDT sent to one address, with $325 million sold for Ether within an hour.

Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle moved swiftly to blacklist addresses, freezing approximately $1.567 billion in USDT and $823 million in USDC respectively. Binance reported Friday that about $3 billion of the estimated $6.3 billion in stolen assets had been frozen onchain.

The decentralized lending protocol Aave added complexity, as attackers deposited $60 million in USDT into Aave V3 and borrowed $44.6 million in wrapped Ether before freezes took effect. Aave temporarily froze markets as a precaution, noting the position remained overcollateralized and did not risk protocol suppliers.