Elliptic: No Evidence North Korean Hackers Used AI to Move Stolen Binance Funds

Odaily reports: Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has stated that there is currently no evidence indicating that the North Korean hackers involved in the $6.4 billion Binance theft used artificial intelligence (AI) to launder the stolen funds. Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist at Elliptic, noted that the hackers used approximately 20 automated software services within less than three days to move funds through decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and cross-chain bridges, but the operations were more consistent with traditional scripts written and supervised by humans rather than AI agents capable of autonomous decision-making.

Elliptic stated that the hackers repeatedly performed the same operations after failed transactions, repeatedly used the same amounts for transfers, and would first test new pathways with small transfers before moving large sums—all behaviors more consistent with the execution patterns of pre-programmed scripts. Although the hackers used six cross-chain bridges for the first time within 100 minutes on October 30, existing evidence cannot determine whether these services were selected by humans or AI systems.

Currently, the hackers still control approximately $3.28 billion in stolen funds spread across more than 950 wallets, while another approximately $2.85 billion—44% of the total stolen funds—has been frozen or recovered. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has previously confirmed that the theft was carried out by the North Korean TraderTraitor hacking group. (CoinDesk)