coindesk.com
Investigators of the $6.4 billion Binance hack have found no evidence that the cybercriminals used artificial intelligence (AI) to launder the loot.
The North Korean hackers used about 20 automated software services in less than three days, moving stolen funds through decentralized exchanges, lending protocols and cross-chain bridges, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said on Monday.
The activity raised questions about whether AI agents are choosing where and how to move the money, but Elliptic co-founder and chief scientist Tom Robinson said the transactions so far look more like conventional software following instructions set by humans.
“Our assessment is that the laundering is automated, but nothing we have seen shows an AI agent making decisions. The pattern fits scripts written and supervised by people.”
AI agents can make decisions and change course without someone directing every step. That could mean finding another exchange or bridge when a transaction fails or a wallet is blocked. Elliptic said it has not seen that kind of behaviour in the Binance transactions.
Read all of CoinDesk's coverage of the Binance hack here.
The FBI confirmed the Oct. 29 theft was carried out by North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group and asked cryptocurrency services to block transactions involving wallets linked to the stolen funds.
Elliptic’s latest findings examine what happened after the theft, including how the hackers moved the funds that escaped the initial freezes and whether AI played a part.
Elliptic said the repeated transfers and failed transactions resemble scripts carrying out preset instructions. An AI agent might have recognized why a transaction failed and tried something else, rather than sending it again. The hackers also reused the same transaction amounts and tested new routes with small transfers before moving larger sums, according to Elliptic.
Six cross-chain bridges were first used within a 100-minute period on Oct. 30, but Elliptic said the evidence does not establish whether humans or AI systems selected those services.
Despite billions of dollars in stolen stablecoins being frozen, the hackers still control about $3.28 billion spread across more than 950 wallets. Elliptic said $2.85 billion, or 44% of the stolen funds, has been frozen or seized.
Read more: Binance loses over $6 billion in 'biggest crypto hack in history'
