FBI blames North Korea for Binance crypto heist worth billions
Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 1 Nov, 02:15 · Archive
The FBI says hackers linked to North Korea stole more than $6 billion from Binance in the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.
More than $6 billion was stolen from Binance in what is described as the largest crypto heist in history. The hackers tested their attack with small transactions on accounts they controlled before launching their full assault just after 4pm New York time on Thursday. They drained wallets across at least four different blockchains within minutes, prompting a worldwide response from security researchers and Binance executives trying to contain the damage.
The FBI said on Saturday the attack was tied to 'malicious cyber activity' by an entity known as TraderTraitor, which the bureau said was responsible for a $1.5 billion hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in February 2025. Investigators found that TraderTraitor was converting stolen assets primarily into ethereum and the FBI expects the hackers will now attempt to convert the assets using decentralised finance services and instant swap services to evade detection.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said on X: 'We've now replenished 90% of the stolen assets, and we're committed to covering the remaining 10%. Our users will not bear the financial impact of this incident.' The remaining 10 per cent consists of tokens that are less liquid and may take longer to replace.
President Donald Trump suggested investigators were not yet certain North Korea was involved. 'I'm not concerned. We're learning about it. We don't know if it's North Korea,' he said on Saturday night, though he added it could yet be determined that it was. The FBI has asked crypto exchanges, blockchain analytics companies and others to block transactions linked to various addresses to prevent the money being laundered.
Crypto expert Ari Redbord said he expects hackers will break the stolen assets into smaller pieces and attempt to launder them through smaller exchanges to evade detection, a process that could unfold over months. The scale of the attack shocked even industry veterans, coming little more than a month after a $388 million cyberattack on exchange Bitget.
How it is being reported
- FBI blames North Korea for stolen billions from BinanceThe FBI says the billions of dollars stolen from Binance within minutes in the biggest crypto heist in history was orchestrated by North Korean hackers.The West Australian · 1 Nov, 01:55
- FBI blames North Korea for stolen billions from BinanceThe FBI says the billions of dollars stolen from Binance within minutes in the biggest crypto heist in history was orchestrated by North Korean hackers.Perth Now · 1 Nov, 01:55
- Inside the scramble to contain the largest crypto heist in historyFrom New York to Abu Dhabi and Kyiv, security researchers and Binance executives rushed to trace the stolen money after a hack that has shocked the crypto world.WAtoday · 1 Nov, 01:29
In this story: Binance · FBI · North Korea · TraderTraitor · Bybit · Richard Teng · Ari Redbord · Donald Trump
This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log
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