FBI says North Korea behind $6 billion Binance crypto theft

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has accused North Korea of orchestrating a massive theft of over $6 billion worth of virtual assets from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is believed to be responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion USD in virtual assets from Binance on or around October 29, 2026.

This heist is reportedly the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, with stolen assets comprising of bitcoin, ethereum, and stablecoins such as tether and USD Coin. The FBI's statement reveals that the cyberattack caused a significant drop in the prices of most major cryptocurrencies on Friday. The malicious cyber activity attributed to this incident has been linked to an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same group behind a $1.5 billion hack on Binance's rival, Bybit, last year.

The FBI suspects that the stolen assets were primarily converted into ethereum and then further laundered using decentralized finance (DeFi) and instant swap services to prepare them for future laundering stages. The FBI has appealed for crypto exchanges, blockchain analytics companies, and others to block transactions linked to specific addresses to prevent the illicit money from being laundered to obscure its origins.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes, has announced that it is using company funds worth over $6.34 billion to replenish approximately 90% of the stolen assets. The remaining 10%, consisting of less liquid tokens, may take longer to be bought back. Binance reaffirmed its commitment to fully cover the financial impact of the stolen funds in a statement on X. This heist has raised concerns about the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) models, which could potentially undermine cryptography and IT security protocols.