Finance1 min read

FBI blames North Korea for record $6.3bn crypto heist

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The FBI identified the perpetrator as TraderTraitor, a North Korean group previously implicated in a $1.5 billion Bybit theft, and published suspect addresses to stop the laundering of funds converted into Ethereum. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng explained that attackers breached systems using a compromised laptop alongside self-deleting malware. The exchange halted withdrawals temporarily but expects to resume them on Sunday after verifying a minimum 1:1 backing in a proof-of-reserves snapshot. Corporate reserves have already restored 90 percent of the stolen assets, with the remainder delayed due to lower liquidity.

Key points

  • Binance is fully absorbing the multi-billion-dollar loss using corporate treasury capital…: Binance is fully absorbing the multi-billion-dollar loss using corporate treasury capital alongside its Futures Insurance Fund and Secure Asset Fund for Users.
  • Platform withdrawals were temporarily halted following the attack but are scheduled to re…: Platform withdrawals were temporarily halted following the attack but are scheduled to reopen on Sunday with assets confirmed backed at least 1:1.
  • The cyber actor TraderTraitor, previously responsible for a $1.5 billion hack on Bybit, w…: The cyber actor TraderTraitor, previously responsible for a $1.5 billion hack on Bybit, was formally blamed by federal authorities for the operation.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Crypto firm Binance says it has covered 90 percent of losses from the multibillion-dollar hack.

The FBI has linked North Korea to the theft of a record $6.3bn in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Malicious actors from North Korea were observed laundering the stolen assets by converting them primarily into the cryptocurrency Ethereum, the FBI said in a statement on Saturday.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Netanyahu’s pitch: Can Israel use crypto to evade economic sanctions?

- list 2 of 3Tracking the money: The biggest donors in the 2026 US midterm elections

- list 3 of 3Russia jails IT worker for 13 years for donating money to Ukraine

The US agency blamed the operation specifically on a group called TraderTraitor, the same group blamed for a $1.5bn theft from the Bybit platform in February last year.

According to the statement, the assets are expected to be “further laundered” in stages.

The FBI called on virtual asset service providers to block transactions being used in the latest laundering operation, providing the suspected digital addresses to watch…

Finance