FBI Accuses North Korea of Record $6.3 Billion Binance Crypto Heist

20minutes.fr (French) —

The FBI formally accused North Korea on Saturday of orchestrating the theft of $6.3 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, in what it called a record-breaking heist around October 29, 2026. The FBI identified the North Korean hacker group TraderTraitor as responsible, noting the thieves are converting stolen funds into Ether and laundering them via decentralized finance services and instant exchanges. It released roughly 500 Ethereum addresses for blocking, with the amount quadrupling the group's previous $1.5 billion ByBit theft in February 2025. The attack highlights North Korea's illicit revenue generation amid heavy sanctions, with TraderTraitor linked to the Lazarus group and the cyberwarfare unit Bureau 121, which employs 6,000 people. Binance, with 335 million users, said withdrawals would resume Sunday and assured no clients would suffer losses.


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