'If crypto can be hacked, banks are in even more danger,' Binance founder warns after $6.3B theft

Zhao Changpeng, the founder of Binance, which suffered one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts on record, has warned that cyberattacks targeting banks and virtual asset exchanges will increase as AI continues to advance.

In an interview with crypto media outlet CoinDesk on Tuesday (local time), Zhao said the industry has no choice but to fight AI-driven hacking with AI itself. "There is no other way," he said, according to Yonhap.

He stressed that AI-powered cyber threats are not limited to the cryptocurrency sector, adding a pointed warning: "If a crypto exchange can be hacked, I think banks are in an even more dangerous position."

He also predicted "far more hacking incidents in the short term," while adding that AI-reinforced defenses will ultimately strengthen financial security over time.

Zhao also addressed customer withdrawals following the incident.

He said the $3.6 billion withdrawn in the immediate aftermath of services resuming represented only about 2 percent of Binance's total asset holdings. He had initially anticipated a bank run of between 10 and 30 percent of total assets, but said the actual scale turned out to be far smaller.

However, even as Zhao sounded the alarm over AI-driven hacking risks, major blockchain analytics firms released reports suggesting that North Korean hackers relied on automated algorithms rather than AI agents in carrying out the attack.

The FBI had earlier identified North Korea's elite hacking group "TraderTraitor" as the perpetrator behind the Binance hack.

Meanwhile, North Korea again rejected accusations that it was behind the Binance hack, while also raising the prospect of dialogue and pressing the United States to abandon its hostile policy toward Pyongyang.

Kim Yo-jong, General Affairs Department Director of the Korean Workers' Party, issued a statement saying that "dialogue is certainly among the options for preserving peace, but that does not necessarily equate to our national interests," according to KCNA as cited by Yonhap.

Kim argued that North Korea "does not view the Binance hacking incident as any accidental, sudden occurrence or isolated matter, but examines it as an extension of Washington's unwavering hostile policy toward" the North. Kim further claimed that "the United States' malicious scheme to exploit this incident for some kind of political gain is producing political side effects."

It was the second statement issued under Kim's name regarding the Binance incident within three days, following one on Monday.

In the earlier statement, Kim denounced the accusation as "a political provocation by the United States" and "an absurd fabrication," warning that "there will be matters we will need to reconsider from various angles regarding the United States' hostile attitude."

Binance had disclosed on Thursday that attackers exploited a hacked engineer's laptop and a vulnerability in its transaction approval system to make unauthorized withdrawals of $6.3 billion worth of virtual assets.