The $2.85B Binance hackers lost shows why the UK needs stablecoin freeze rules

Opinion by Lissele Pratt, co-founder, Capitalixe

Last weekend, the Federal Bureau of Investigation claimed that North Korea was behind the $6.3 billion Binance hack, which analysts are calling the largest heist on record.

While I’ve read a lot about the scale of this heist, far less has been said about what went right.

Because while it is true that the perpetrators stole $6.3 billion, they haven’t actually been able to hold on to a significant proportion of those takings. $2.85 billion of the funds has been frozen.

The reason for this comes down to what the stolen money was comprised of. Of that $2.85 billion, 94% was held in stablecoins.

While this hack was terrible news all around, it did show that centralized control, oftentimes criticized by crypto purists, might actually be one of the strongest tools we have against crypto crime.

Because, unlike other assets, stablecoins can be frozen by their issuers, giving victims a real chance to stop stolen money reaching the wrong hands.

It does, however, raise an uncomfortable question. If private companies have the power to freeze billions of dollars in assets, who decides when they should be allowed to use it?

The United Kingdom now has the opportunity to do just that.