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FBI links $6B-plus Binance theft to North Korea

The FBI says North Korea-linked TraderTraitor stole more than $6 billion from Binance, and urges crypto firms to block wallets as laundering continues.

iCrypto Editorial

FBI links $6B-plus Binance theft to North Korea

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, lost more than $6 billion in a theft on Oct. 29, and the FBI has attributed it to North Korea. The bureau named the group TraderTraitor in its Oct. 31 alert.

The scale of the theft puts pressure on crypto firms to trace and block the stolen funds before they move further.

What does the FBI say happened?

The FBI says TraderTraitor stole more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance on or around Oct. 29. The Associated Press reported that the theft happened within minutes and described it as the biggest crypto heist on record.

The FBI said the group is converting the stolen assets mainly into Ether, the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network. It expects the group to move funds through decentralised finance services, or DeFi, which let users exchange or manage crypto without a central intermediary, and instant swap services.

Can the stolen funds still be tracked?

Yes. The FBI, the US Secret Service and the IRS Criminal Investigation division said they had observed the conversions. Their alert lists wallet addresses linked to TraderTraitor and asks crypto businesses, including exchanges and DeFi services, to block transactions connected to those addresses.

That request aims to make laundering harder, but it does not mean the money has been recovered. The FBI warned that the group may use further services to prepare the assets for additional laundering.

What has Binance said about customer losses?

Binance said it had enough of the same digital assets set aside to cover 90% of the missing funds and promised customers full reimbursement, according to the Associated Press report. That promise gives customers a stated path to repayment while investigators and crypto firms try to track the funds.

The FBI linked TraderTraitor to a $1.5 billion Bybit hack last year. The attribution connects this theft to a group already associated with a major crypto exchange attack.

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