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The FBI said Saturday that North Korean hackers were responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance this week, linking one of the largest digital asset thefts in history to the regime in Pyongyang.
The announcement marks the first public confirmation from U.S. federal investigators of North Korea’s role in the attack, following earlier assessments from private cybersecurity researchers.
The FBI identified the North Korean cyber activity as “TraderTraitor,” saying the hackers stole more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, on Thursday.
The FBI said it and its partners at the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation observed the hackers converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum (ETH).
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Authorities said they expect the assets to be further laundered through decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and instant cryptocurrency exchange services.
Federal officials are now urging cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and other digital asset service providers to block transactions involving wallet addresses linked to the stolen funds to prevent the hackers from moving or laundering the assets.
President Donald Trump also addressed the breach Saturday, saying his administration was still gathering information about the possible involvement of North Korean hackers.
“I’m not concerned. We’re learning about it. We don’t know if it’s North Korea, but if it is, we’ll talk to them about it,” Trump told reporters.
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Binance said Saturday that it had replenished approximately 90% of the stolen assets, covering roughly $6 billion of the estimated $6.3 billion loss.
The exchange said major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and BNB, were fully backed, while it continued purchasing less-liquid tokens through market and over-the-counter transactions.
“Binance will absorb the financial impact of these stolen funds, not our users,” the exchange said.
Binance first disclosed the breach Thursday, saying hackers had stolen approximately $6.3 billion in digital assets.
The scale of the theft was highlighted by Eric Schiffer, chairman of Patriarch and Reputation Management Consultants, who previously told FOX Business the incident underscores growing cybersecurity challenges facing major financial institutions.
“I look at this as one of the world’s greatest thefts of all time, and it’s sad,” Schiffer said.
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He warned that the incident could be the beginning of a broader wave of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, particularly as artificial intelligence becomes more powerful.
“I think the bloodbath of AI hacking is to come,” he said. “And there’s going to be a lot more pain.”
