A North Korean unit was likely behind the hack that impacted more than $6 billion on Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, according to a U.S.-based blockchain intelligence firm.

Binance said it worked with blockchain partners to freeze roughly $3 billion in affected assets. It said Friday that it was beginning to recover assets for users.

The cryptocurrency exchange said deposits were unaffected, while withdrawals have been suspended and are expected to resume in the next day or two. It said it will cover all losses.

The company said on X that an initial investigation suggested the incident may have involved a compromised laptop, but that a subsequent investigation uncovered additional “points of breach.”

Blockchain intelligence firm TRM, in a post on its website Thursday, attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, which it described as North Korea’s elite hacking unit. “We make this judgment with high confidence,” the firm said.

“An attacker moved approximately USD 6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on ten blockchains, most of it in about 20 minutes,” TRM said. That would make the hack the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, it said.

In February last year, another cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit, suffered a $1.5 billion hit when it was hacked. The FBI said North Korea and TraderTraitor were responsible for the hack.

“Several features of this attack match earlier North Korea-linked heists, including the Bybit hack,” TRM said.

Blockchain analysis company Chainalysis also believed the Binance hack was “likely done by DPRK group TraderTraitor,” its co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin wrote on X. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

Asked about the potential ties to North Korea, a Binance spokesperson said only that the company is “working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of the criminals and bring them to justice.”

Experts say North Korea has turned to crypto hacking and other illicit cyber activities as a source of badly needed foreign currency to support its troubled economy and fund its nuclear program in the wake of tough U.N. sanctions and other difficulties.

In December 2022, South Korea’s spy agency said North Korean hackers had stolen an estimated $1.1 billion in cryptocurrency and other virtual assets in the past five years, more than half of it in 2022 alone. It said North Korea’s capacity to steal digital assets was considered among the best in the world.

Changpeng Zhao founded Binance in 2017. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to a felony linked to failing to prevent money laundering on the platform, and stepped down as the company’s CEO. President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao last year.

Zhao posted Thursday on X that “User funds are safe!” but added that the theft “does look like a hack on Binance.” He added that while he doesn’t manage Binance anymore, “as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered.”

The hack, meanwhile, also raises questions about why stronger approval controls were not in place, said Kok Tin Gan, co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm NyxLab.

“This looks like one signature that gave the attacker a never-expiring, full-access token to a Binance hot wallet,” he said, referring to cryptocurrency wallets that hold users’ “private keys,” or unique authorizations, digitally and which are connected to the internet.

Binance said on X it had “found no evidence of any wallet private key leak” and that the company would release more technical details when its probe is complete.

The post Blockchain intelligence firms link North Korea to $6.3B hack on Binance appeared first on MS NOW.

Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election.

Pope Leo XIV has become the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election.

Death row inmate Christa Pike said she is in constant pain since surviving a lethal injection in Tennessee last month but thankful for the love and support she has received.

Pike issued her first public statement through her attorneys on Friday. She said she went into the execution chamber prepared to die in peace and woke up alone and confused in a hospital bed.

“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul,” Pike said.

Pike, 50, said she had not contemplated a life beyond her execution date.

“I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position. I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured,” Pike said.

Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state tried to execute her on Sept. 30 for the 1995 stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 when she tortured and killed Slemmer with her boyfriend, becoming one of the youngest women to be sentenced to death.

She said she is thankful for the medical workers who saved her life and the people who showed her kindness.

“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others,” she said. “For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone.”

Pike’s attorneys have urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, R, to reduce Pike’s sentence to life imprisonment. Lee told reporters this week that “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”

Lee called for an investigation into what happened during the failed execution and postponed the state’s other lethal injection scheduled this year.

Friday’s statement was dictated to Pike’s legal team from the infirmary at the prison where she is housed.

Pike was hospitalized in the immediate aftermath of the failed execution and then moved back to prison at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center.

The post Christa Pike describes constant pain after surviving execution attempt appeared first on MS NOW.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange reported Thursday that approximately $6.3 billion was impacted in an apparent hack.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum)

The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange reported Thursday that approximately $6.3 billion was impacted in an apparent hack.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum)

It wasn't immediately clear the extent of the damage hackers might have been able to cause, and Binance had not explicitly confirmed that funds had been pilfered. The company said its teams are "working around the clock" to resolve the issue.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum)

It wasn't immediately clear the extent of the damage hackers might have been able to cause, and Binance had not explicitly confirmed that funds had been pilfered. The company said its teams are "working around the clock" to resolve the issue.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum)

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels near Islam’s holiest city, a claim the Houthis denied

© AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels near Islam’s holiest city, a claim the Houthis denied

© AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will campaign Sunday in Detroit alongside former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens, marking their first public appearance together in months after a week in which lingering divisions spilled into public view.

The two will be joined by South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the country’s most prominent Black politicians, at a get-out-the-vote event at a Detroit church, according to two people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. The event was first reported by The Associated Press.

The joint appearance — their first since a Democratic unity breakfast days after the Aug. 4 primary — follows weeks of Democrats struggling to unite behind El-Sayed following his razor-thin victory over Stevens. She received significant support from the Jewish and Black communities, leading to concerns about turnout in the general election.

Tensions again spilled into public view Wednesday when Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, told The Detroit News that he would vote for Republican Mike Rogers.

Hours later, Stevens appeared on CNN to reaffirm that she would be voting for El-Sayed, but urged his campaign to “shut out the hate and call it out.” She said El-Sayed needs to reach out to people who were part of her coalition and “make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls.”

Asked Thursday evening about the upcoming event with Stevens, El-Sayed said “we’re always trying to unify the party” and it hadn’t happened sooner because of their busy schedules. El-Sayed then criticized the reporter for the question, saying “nobody cares” about internal party dynamics when the cost of living is so high.

While significant, the joint appearance comes just days before the election

El-Sayed and Stevens last appeared together on Aug. 6, two days after the primary. Stevens pledged to support El-Sayed, telling CBS News she would do “whatever he wants me to do” on the campaign trail.

But divisions from the contentious primary have persisted. Nearly $60 million was spent on advertising attacking El-Sayed, including $30 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Stevens is a staunch supporter of Israel who represents a district with a large Jewish community in Detroit’s suburbs.

The church visit on Sunday is intended to further that elusive unity, although its impact is uncertain, given that it comes just two days before the election. Michigan early voting started Oct. 24.

“We’ve got a Black and Jewish coalition that came out and voted for me in droves. And I want them to come out and vote for Democrats,” Stevens said to CNN on Wednesday.

El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel, past remarks and his association with controversial streamer Hasan Piker have long drawn concern from some in Michigan’s large Jewish community. Turkish and others have said El-Sayed hasn’t done enough to address concerns ahead of the general election.

The latest controversy centered on an ad by Rebellion PAC, an independent left-wing group, that linked U.S. support for Israel to high grocery prices.

“That has nothing to do with our campaign,” El-Sayed said of the ad. “It’s certainly not what I want to be talking about right now.”

Stevens and other Democrats urged him to go further to denounce the content of the advertisement rather than merely distancing himself from it.

Trump’s rhetoric and actions create challenges for Republicans.

Republicans face political challenges of their own, particularly voter dissatisfaction with Trump, the Iran war and high costs. Rogers has remained closely aligned with the president on most issues, appearing alongside him at a Michigan rally Sunday where he credited Trump with bringing manufacturing jobs back to the state.

The rally took place in Port Huron, just across the river from Canada, a country with deep economic ties to Michigan that Trump has targeted with tariffs.

El-Sayed has held campaign events in heavily Republican areas, including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. His team also released an ad featuring clips of prominent conservative figures praising him, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has faced accusations of antisemitism that he denies.

But the ad created another source of friction with some Jewish voters.

Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield criticized both the Rebellion PAC ad and El-Sayed’s campaign ad during a call with reporters.

“We are one week away from the election, and it feels like the temperature has turned way up,” Starr said. “Instead of things getting better over the last seven weeks, they’ve actually gotten worse.”

Rogers, meanwhile, appeared Wednesday with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at an event hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition in Birmingham, Michigan. Cruz called antisemitism “a poison that is ripping the country apart” and accused Democrats of being taken over by “self-proclaimed communists and Islamists.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked El-Sayed’s Muslim faith, calling him a “jihadist” and saying Sunday that he was “on the side of terrorists.”

Both campaigns make a final push for Black voters

Both candidates are trying to win over Black voters, particularly in Detroit’s Wayne County, where Stevens defeated El-Sayed in the Democratic primary.

El-Sayed’s event with Stevens and Clyburn is part of an effort to shore up support among Black voters. Much of El-Sayed’s final campaign stretch has included appearances in Detroit.

Rogers has also sought to make inroads with Black voters. He visited a reading remediation program at a Detroit high school and discussed housing costs with residents in Pontiac, north of the city. Earlier this month, his wife handed out $10 gift cards at a gas station.

The gesture drew criticism from Ruby Farmer, a 68-year-old Detroit retiree.

“You’re giving out gas cards in the inner city; you never would come for any other reason,” Farmer said.

While Farmer has a bit of difficulty pronouncing El-Sayed’s name, she cast her ballot for him three weeks ago anyways. El-Sayed has come out in opposition to policies by Trump — policies Farmer says directly impact her family.

“I have a special-needs son,” said Farmer. “He depends on Medicaid. Medicaid has been cut, and for home care workers in Michigan, all the benefits are on hold.”

The post El-Sayed and Stevens to make rare joint appearance as Democrats seek unity in Michigan appeared first on MS NOW.

Oct. 23 - 29, 2026

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