(Oct 31): President Donald Trump said the US is looking into whether North Korean hackers were behind a US$6.3 billion (RM25.6 billion) heist targeting Binance that has rattled the cryptocurrency world.

“We don’t know. We are looking at that,” Trump told reporters on Friday in the Oval Office when asked if the hack should be attributed to actors from North Korea.

Hackers from that country have been known to prey on the digital asset industry and accused by the FBI and cybersecurity experts of involvement in some of the biggest crypto thefts in recent years.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto trading platform, suspended withdrawals and pledged to cover all losses after the hack, the biggest heist the digital-asset industry has ever faced. Binance posted on X that about US$3 billion of the assets had been frozen on blockchain networks. In another post, co-founder Yi He said withdrawals are expected to resume by Sunday.

“They are saying they are guaranteeing it or something,” Trump said. “It was a hack. That’s the problem. You know the old-fashioned way when you used to sign a cheque, take it out. These are different people. Never see the money anymore. So I have always felt it was a little bit dangerous.”

“They say they have it pretty much under control,” he added, referring to Binance.

Binance has had ties to businesses connected to the president and his family. The firm helped develop a stablecoin for a company that Trump and his sons co-founded. Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s co-founder and former chief executive officer, was pardoned by Trump in 2025 after he pleaded guilty to failing to enforce robust anti-money-laundering measures.

The hacking incident came amid growing concern about the risks posed by hackers in the artificial intelligence age. It also marked a setback for an industry that is keen to expand its presence in traditional finance and which has benefitted from Trump’s push to ease regulatory burdens.

Western governments have accused North Korea of fostering hacking groups and using them to bring in funds to pay for weapons programmes.

Trump in recent weeks has floated new US outreach to North Korea, suggesting that a potential meeting with its leader, Kim Jong Un, could happen this year. Earlier this month, however, Trump downplayed those expectations, saying he was “not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting”.

Read also:
Binance estimates US$6.3 bil hacked in crypto's biggest heist
Record Binance hack shows no crypto firm is too big to breach
Bitcoin drops below US$77,000 as Binance hack shakes crypto

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee