FBI links North Korea to $6B Binance theft

The FBI says North Korea was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in crypto from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The bureau linked the October 29 attack to TraderTraitor, a hacking operation it associates with North Korea, and says the stolen funds are being moved toward laundering.

In its October 31 alert, the FBI named the group and urged crypto businesses to block transactions linked to its wallet addresses. The theft is the largest known crypto heist, according to the Associated Press.

What does the FBI say happened to the stolen crypto?

The FBI says the attackers are converting the stolen assets mainly into Ethereum (ETH), the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network. It expects them to move the funds through DeFi services, which let people trade or lend crypto without a central intermediary, and instant swap services to make the money harder to trace.

The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and the IRS’s criminal investigation unit are asking exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and other crypto services to block transactions tied to addresses listed in the alert. The FBI says those addresses hold, or have held, assets from the theft.

How much was taken from Binance?

The FBI puts the theft at more than $6 billion and says it happened on or about October 29. The Associated Press reported that Binance said hackers stole $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currencies. The AP called it the biggest crypto heist on record.

Binance said it had set aside enough of the same digital currencies to cover 90% of the missing assets and promised to fully reimburse customers, according to the AP. That commitment matters because customers could otherwise face losses if the stolen funds cannot be recovered.

What happens next?

The FBI expects the attackers to keep moving the funds through swap services and DeFi as they prepare for further laundering. It is asking crypto firms to use the wallet addresses in its alert to spot and block related transfers.

The FBI’s attribution identifies who it says was responsible, but the funds are still moving. Whether investigators and crypto services can stop more of them from being laundered remains an open question.

Sources

• October 31 alert — fbi.gov