Hackers stole more than $6 billion from Binance, FBI points to North Korea

On October 30 the cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that hackers had stolen more than $6 billion in what the company called one of the largest crypto thefts on record.

Binance said it had set aside more than $6.34 billion from its own funds to cover the stolen assets and would begin returning those funds to affected users. The exchange also said user assets remained "secure" and that all losses would be reimbursed.

Authorities point to North Korea; parts of the haul frozen

Federal investigators have attributed the attack to North Korea and identified a state‑linked actor known as TraderTraitor. The FBI said the group converted much of the stolen value into ether (Ethereum) and was likely to launder proceeds further using DeFi and instant‑swap services.

Binance worked with blockchain partners to freeze roughly $3 billion in assets. Major stablecoin issuers Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) used their on‑chain controls to freeze about $2.4 billion in stablecoins — roughly 40% of the stolen sum.

Security experts stressed the mix of centralized controls and decentralized design in crypto: stablecoins can be frozen by issuers, but traditional cryptocurrencies remain hard to reverse. As one specialist put it in translated remarks: "This is the largest bank robbery in human history. What we are reporting is that North Korea managed to breach Binance's cybersecurity controls, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, which is by far the biggest crypto business — and stole $6.36 billion. We observed funds beginning to be withdrawn from Binance, that is, from its digital wallet infrastructure. Actually, 'Binance' is like any other bank, it's, in fact, a blockchain bank," said Ari Redbord, a cryptocurrency expert.

Emily Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of SOT, Oxford Information Labs, described a likely infection vector: "What likely happened is that, during the job interview process, victims are often asked to take a certain test, which actually turns into malicious software," she said, underlining the need for early‑warning systems and fast response in cybercrime incidents.

The news pushed bitcoin down 3.2% on Thursday evening, slipping below $79,000. The Binance incident dwarfs a previous early‑2025 heist on Bybit — about $1.5 billion stolen — which U.S. investigators also attributed to the same North Korean‑linked actors.

Photo: press material from the event