[Wu Blockchain News] Highlight Clip: Bitfinex Hacker on Binance Hack: North Korean Hackers Target the...

Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker behind the 2016 Bitfinex breach, said the Binance hack resembled North Korean tactics that exploit weak links such as employees phished into downloading malware rather than flaws in exchange websites. He stressed that the first 48 hours are critical for tracing stolen funds, noting that AI agents accelerate transfers but blockchain records remain traceable years later. Lichtenstein stole roughly 120,000 BTC from Bitfinex in 2016, pleaded guilty with his wife to money laundering conspiracy in 2023, was sentenced to five years in 2024, and was released early in January 2026. He now works as a white-hat hacker. The comments matter as exchanges reassess employee-facing security and incident response speed; watch for post-mortems on the Binance hack and early on-chain tracing of the stolen funds.