FBI blames North Korean hackers for record $6.3 billion Binance theft
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has linked North Korean hackers to the theft of $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency assets from Binance, describing the incident as the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.
In a statement on Saturday, the FBI identified a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor as responsible for the attack on the cryptocurrency exchange.
The agency said the hackers had begun laundering the stolen assets, primarily by converting them into Ethereum, and warned that the funds were expected to be “further laundered” in stages.
TraderTraitor was previously linked to the theft of $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency platform Bybit in February 2025.
The FBI urged virtual asset service providers to block transactions associated with the laundering operation and provided suspected cryptocurrency addresses for monitoring.
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Binance, which operates the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Saturday that it had replaced 90% of the stolen assets using company funds to purchase new tokens.
The company said the remaining 10% consisted of less liquid tokens that could take longer to replace.
The company said the replacement funds came from its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a Bitcoin reserve established to protect customers against security breaches, alongside resources from its Futures Insurance Fund and corporate treasury.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
