FBI Links $6.3B Binance Hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor Group

TLDR

• Kim Yo Jong rejected FBI claims that North Korea carried out the $6.3 billion Binance hack.
• She called the U.S. findings a “grave political provocation” against Pyongyang.
• The FBI blamed the October 29 theft on the North Korea-linked group TraderTraitor.
• Elliptic traced stolen funds through about 12,000 wallets across 11 blockchains.
• Binance has replaced about 95% of affected assets and is restoring withdrawals.

North Korea has denied any role in the $6.3 billion hack of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, called the FBI’s findings a “grave political provocation” against her country.

Her statement was carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, November 3. It came days after the FBI blamed a North Korea-linked hacking group for the October 29 theft.

Kim Yo Jong Rejects FBI Claims

Kim said the FBI is trying to brand North Korea as a “cyber criminal state.” She questioned the agency’s claim that a hacking group “supported” by Pyongyang carried out the attack.

“It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the U.S. misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds,” she said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name.

Kim called the accusation a “sinister” attempt to damage North Korea’s image and national prestige. She also called it a violation of the country’s sovereignty in cyberspace.

North Korea has been blamed for crypto thefts before and has denied involvement. However, it is rare for Kim to issue a statement about a hacking incident.

Kim also pointed to U.S. plans to seize stolen crypto. She said the current administration announced last year it would confiscate such assets for a strategic reserve.

She suggested that whoever ends up with the recovered funds “may get a clue about who is behind the hacking incident.” She did not present evidence of another attacker.

Kim said North Korea is “closely monitoring” what she called U.S. provocations. “We have issues to reconsider in diverse aspects as regards the very unpleasant U.S. hostile attitude,” she warned.

FBI and Elliptic Track the Stolen Funds

The FBI said on October 31 that TraderTraitor stole more than $6 billion in digital assets. The group has been tied to earlier North Korea-linked crypto heists.

The FBI worked with the Secret Service and IRS investigators on the case. It said the attackers were converting stolen assets mainly into Ethereum.

The agency warned that funds could move through decentralized finance platforms and instant swap services. It asked exchanges and other crypto firms to block transactions tied to the identified wallets.

Binance’s early findings pointed to a compromised engineer’s laptop that may have allowed access to internal systems. The exchange found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked.

On November 2, Elliptic estimated the total theft at $6.43 billion. It traced the funds through about 12,000 wallets and more than 40,000 transactions across 11 blockchains in the first four days.

Much of the early activity took place on Tron, across about 7,700 addresses. The attackers then moved funds to Ethereum using cross-chain bridges.

Elliptic said $786 million in stolen stablecoins was swapped into other cryptocurrencies before issuers could freeze them. Another $2.85 billion, or about 44% of the total, has been frozen or seized.

About $3.24 billion remains in linked addresses, mostly in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Only a small portion appears to have been cashed out, including about 28 Bitcoin sent through mixers.

Binance said it has replaced about 95% of affected assets using company funds. The remaining balance is made up of less-liquid tokens.

Its November 2 reserve check covered ten major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB and Solana. Binance has said it will absorb the losses rather than pass them to customers.

Binance began restoring withdrawals on November 1, starting with Bitcoin and selected assets on Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. More withdrawals will resume from November 3, subject to operational and security checks.

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