It’s the largest cryptocurrency theft in history : hackers from North Korea allegedly swiped $6. 36 billion in funds from Binance in the space of just 20 minutes, which has left customers reeling and the financial industry in shock. The heist raises all kinds of questions about how this was allowed to happen, what might happen next, and whether Binance customers are going to get any of their stolen money back. Even if you never owned any cryptocurrency before, there are bigger questions too — like what this means for global financial stability, and what the aftershocks might be for everyone outside the Binance world. Looking for a quick five-minute primer on the Binance hack? We’ve been speaking to industry experts to get some answers… 1. What actually happened? (Image credit: Getty Images / Dan Kitwood) The basics are now pretty clear — $6. 36 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen from the Binance exchange in the space of just 20 minutes. Security analysts are pointing the blame at North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group, which has a history of this kind of heist. What’s less clear is exactly how the hackers got access. Early reports identified a Binance employee’s compromised laptop as a potential way in, though it now seems there’s more to the story. "A compromised laptop may explain where an attack started, but it does not, on its own, explain how billions of dollars could leave an exchange," Pieter Arntz, researcher at cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes , told TechRadar. "The real question is what allowed that initial foothold to become access to withdrawal systems — and which safeguards failed to stop unauthorized transactions." "According to blockchain analysts, the attacker spent at least a day and a half preparing, including testing their tools on public blockchains where anyone could see," Ben Bernstein, manager of cybersecurity advisors at Huntress , told TechRadar. "Then most of the $6. 3 billion left Binance’s wallets in about 20 minutes. That’s common in attacks we investigate. The attacker does most of the work long before anything is stolen." 2. Will anyone get their money back? Binance says customers will be refunded (Image credit: Shutterstock / Diego Ioppolo) Binance has promised to reimburse customer losses through its backup and emergency funds, but in the meantime we’re seeing deposits and withdrawals frozen on the platform while the hack is investigated. It’s a warning that even the largest and most sophisticated exchanges can still be vulnerable. "Binance says it’ll cover every cent," Nigel Green, CEO of the deVere Group , said in a press statement. "I hope so. The emergency fund is around $1. 2 billion and the gap is several times bigger, so the rest has to come from the company’s own balance sheet. The market will want to see the numbers, and the new proof of reserves can’t come soon enough." "Long term holders have just been reminded, very expensively, why keys kept offline matter. Crypto has spent years pushing back against heavy regulation, and plenty of those arguments were fair. This one’s harder to argue with. Platforms holding billions of other people’s money need enforceable security standards. I expect regulators in the US, Europe and Asia will likely move faster after this week," he added. In the meantime, the US Secret Service has said in a statement that it’s "working around the clock" with partners in the private sector "to identify, freeze, trace, and recover funds" that have been stolen from Binance. 3. What follow-up scams might appear?…