North Korea-linked hackers allegedly steal over $2.8 million on BNB Chain
On-chain investigator ZachXBT has reported the suspected theft of $2.84 million in cryptocurrency from an unnamed organization on BNB Chain. According to his findings, the October 8, 2026, attack may have been carried out by SquidSquad, a hacking group linked to North Korea.
On October 21, the investigator published his findings from tracing the stolen assets. Transaction analysis showed that the attackers used the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer, cross-chain transfers and intermediaries to move the funds.
ZachXBT did not disclose the identity of the affected organization. SquidSquad's involvement in the attack has also not been independently confirmed.
Stolen funds moved through Tornado Cash and Tron
According to ZachXBT, the attacker transferred 1,111.2 ETH to the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer on October 20. The funds were subsequently withdrawn to three separate Ethereum addresses.
The assets were then transferred to the Tron blockchain using USDT0 and consolidated into two addresses. The investigator identified links between these wallets and addresses previously attributed to North Korean hackers.
Within minutes, the funds passed through additional intermediary addresses before reaching Chinese over-the-counter (OTC) brokers.
ZachXBT suggested that this sequence of transactions may have been designed to circumvent potential asset freezes by USDT issuer Tether.
However, the investigator did not specify how the organization was initially compromised. It also remains unclear whether the victim managed to freeze or recover any of the stolen funds.
Losses from cryptocurrency hacks continue to rise
The suspected attack comes amid mounting losses across the cryptocurrency industry from malicious activity. Hackers continue to exploit infrastructure vulnerabilities and use complex methods to move stolen assets.
Transactions involving mixers, cross-chain transfers and OTC intermediaries pose particular challenges for investigators, making it more difficult to trace the subsequent movement of funds.
In the third quarter of 2026, total losses from cryptocurrency hacks reached $1.18 billion. A total of 107 incidents were recorded during the period, making it the costliest quarter since the beginning of 2025.
A significant share of the losses was linked to compromised third-party providers, vulnerabilities in developer tools and external infrastructure components. Such threats are not always detected during standard security audits.
Earlier, we reported that blockchain project Qubic resumed network operations following a cyberattack. The team also opened a claims process to help affected wallet holders recover their funds.
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