FBI links $6bn-plus Binance theft to North Korea
The FBI says North Korea stole more than $6 billion from Binance on Oct. 29 and is urging crypto services to block addresses as the funds move toward laundering.
Crypto Daybook Newsroom2 min read
The FBI says North Korea stole more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance on or about Oct. 29, naming the activity TraderTraitor. The bureau’s Oct. 31 alert says the group is moving the stolen funds, raising the risk that they will be harder to trace and recover.
How large was the Binance theft?
The theft exceeded $6 billion, according to the FBI. The Associated Press reported that Binance said more than $6 billion was stolen in what appears to be the largest cryptocurrency heist on record. Its report on the FBI’s attribution put the loss at $6.3 billion in bitcoin and other digital currencies.
The FBI identified the incident as an attack by North Korea’s TraderTraitor actors. The group is also linked to last year’s $1.5 billion theft from crypto exchange Bybit, AP reported. Binance’s theft is far larger, making the recovery of the funds a major test of how quickly crypto platforms and investigators can track money across digital networks.
How are the stolen coins being moved?
The FBI says the attackers are converting the assets primarily into Ether, the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network. It expects them to move the funds through decentralized finance, or DeFi, services that run on blockchains, and instant-swap services as part of further laundering.
Crypto can move between wallets and services without a bank processing each transfer. That can make tracing a theft harder, while public blockchain records can also help investigators and companies follow where the assets go. The FBI did not say how much of the stolen value had been recovered or frozen in its alert.
What is the FBI asking crypto services to do?
The FBI, U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation are urging crypto businesses and infrastructure operators to block transactions linked to addresses identified in the alert. That includes instant exchanges, DeFi services, blockchain analytics firms and operators of nodes, which help process and relay blockchain transactions.
The request aims to interrupt the movement of funds before they can be exchanged or routed through more services. The FBI published a list of addresses connected to the theft for industry participants to check. The agencies’ warning puts exchanges and other service providers on notice to screen transfers tied to those addresses as the investigation continues.
References
- Oct. 31 alert — fbi.gov
- report on the FBI’s attribution — apnews.com