FBI Links North Korea to $6.3B Binance Hack

The FBI attributed the theft of approximately $6.3 billion in digital assets from Binance to North Korea, describing it as the largest theft from a cryptocurrency exchange. The bureau identified the operation as “TraderTraitor” and said the stolen funds were being converted primarily into Ether, with further laundering expected through decentralized finance platforms and instant-swap services.

Binance said it would absorb the financial impact rather than its users. According to the exchange, approximately $3 billion of the stolen assets had been frozen across multiple jurisdictions and it had covered 90% of the affected losses by Saturday. The FBI urged THORChain operators, RPC node providers, instant exchanges, DeFi protocols, blockchain analytics companies and other digital-asset services to block transactions tied to addresses published by the agency.

The disclosure drew political attention as early voting continued ahead of the November 3 U.S. election. Asked about the breach, President Donald Trump said authorities were investigating and that Binance had indicated it would recover and guarantee the funds. The report also triggered speculation about whether the hack could influence the election, although no immediate political advantage was apparent.

Crypto-linked equities reacted to the news, with Coinbase leading a selloff following the disclosure. The incident highlights the scale of state-linked cryptocurrency theft and the increasing pressure on exchanges, DeFi providers and blockchain analytics firms to freeze stolen assets before they move into more sophisticated laundering channels.