FBI Blames North Korea for Binance Hack

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Saturday that North Korea was responsible for a massive theft from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

In a public statement, the FBI identified the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as the entity behind the extraction of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from the platform. The agency stated the breach occurred on or about October 29, 2026, and was completed within minutes. Officials described the incident as the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.

The stolen funds included bitcoin, ethereum, and stablecoins such as Tether and USD Coin. These stablecoins are pegged to traditional currencies. The cyberattack coincided with a sharp decline in the prices of major cryptocurrencies on Friday.

The FBI linked the incident to a malicious cyber actor known as TraderTraitor. This group was also implicated in the $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange last year. According to the agency, TraderTraitor actors have been converting the stolen assets primarily into ethereum. The FBI expects these assets will be further laundered through decentralized finance and instant swap services.

To limit the spread of the stolen funds, the FBI asked cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain analytics firms to block transactions linked to specific addresses. This measure aims to prevent the money from being laundered to hide its origins.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume, responded by saying it was using over $6.34 billion in company funds to buy back tokens. The exchange stated this would replenish about 90% of the stolen assets. The remaining 10% consisted of less liquid tokens that may take longer to repurchase. The company said on X that it would fully cover the financial impact of the incident.

The heist occurred as concerns grew that expanding artificial intelligence capabilities might compromise cryptography and IT security protocols.