North Korea blamed for record US$6.3b Binance crypto theft, FBI says

Federal investigators have linked North Korea to the theft of over US$6.3 billion (RM25.5 billion) in cryptocurrency from Binance, potentially the largest cyber theft in history, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The agency named the operation "TraderTraitor," a North Korean-associated cyber threat group, after collaborating with the US Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division.

This assault, believed to have taken place around October 29, targeted Binance, the world's most active cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume. In an alert issued on Saturday, the FBI reported that the hackers had been converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum, with additional laundering planned through decentralized finance platforms and instant cryptocurrency swap services.

The FBI and its partners recommended that cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain operators, and other virtual asset service providers block transactions linked to the operation's digital wallet addresses. Initially, Binance suggested the breach stemmed from a compromised laptop; however, further investigations revealed multiple points of intrusion.

The breach is estimated to have resulted in the loss of about US$6.3 billion, marking one of the most significant security breaches in the digital finance sector. Binance reportedly replaced approximately US$6 billion of the stolen assets using company funds, while the exchange and industry partners have identified around US$3 billion in affected assets for potential freezing.

TraderTraitor is connected to North Korea's extensive cyber operations, which have been implicated in major cryptocurrency thefts, including the Lazarus Group, attributed to the Sony Pictures hack in 2014.