FBI blames North Korea for Binance theft
The US law-enforcement agency says more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen and subsequently partly converted into ether.
Follow-up to: Binance reports record theft of $6.3 billion Friday, 30 October 2026, 13:24
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The FBI says North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance. According to the FBI, the attackers converted part of the haul into ether. The agency expects further money-laundering steps.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the attribution on Saturday, two days after Binance reported a major security breach. According to the FBI, more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency was moved from Binance wallets.
The FBI says North Korean actors were observed converting the stolen assets into ether. The agency expects further laundering stages to follow. This makes the US statement more definitive than the initial analyses by blockchain companies, which had already identified North Korea as the likely culprit but initially reported no government confirmation.
Blockchain company TRM Labs wrote earlier that approximately $6.36 billion had been moved from Binance wallets across ten blockchains, largely within twenty minutes. AP reported, citing TRM, that several characteristics matched previous attacks by the North Korean group TraderTraitor. Chainalysis reached a similar preliminary assessment.
The precise scale of the damage depends on the valuation of the stolen tokens at the time of the theft. Elliptic calculated $6.43 billion, while Binance cited approximately $6.3 billion. Those figures describe the value of the stolen assets; they do not automatically indicate how much money ultimately became unusable or disappeared permanently.
According to Elliptic, approximately $2.85 billion in funds had been frozen or seized by 31 October. Binance has said it intends to cover losses with its emergency fund and its own resources. That may limit the direct damage to customers, but it does not resolve the security and trust issues surrounding large centralised cryptocurrency exchanges.
The United States and other researchers have long linked North Korea to large-scale cryptocurrency theft. According to US authorities and experts, the proceeds are used to evade sanctions and finance the regime and weapons programmes. The new FBI attribution concerns this specific Binance attack; investigations into the technical methods and the ultimate destination of all the proceeds are still under way.
For Binance, the financial incident could also have reputational consequences. The exchange says it is working with law-enforcement agencies to identify the perpetrators. The FBI is meanwhile warning that some of the assets may still be moved and converted, prompting blockchain companies and law-enforcement agencies to try to block addresses and transactions quickly.
Also show the region and a close-up
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The FBI attributes responsibility for the theft of more than $6 billion from Binance to North Korea.
- According to the FBI, some of the assets were converted into ether.
- Blockchain companies had already identified North Korea as the likely culprit.
- The scale of frozen and permanently lost funds has not yet been definitively established.
Left
Arguments Emphasises that large-scale cybercrime requires international public cooperation and strict oversight of cryptocurrency exchanges, because citizens and companies cannot bear the risks alone.
Values Collective security, consumer protection and international enforcement.
Consequences Warns that companies’ voluntary security pledges may be insufficient and that stricter rules could limit innovation or privacy.
Centre
Arguments Emphasises better information-sharing between exchanges, law-enforcement agencies and blockchain companies, with proportionate security and transparency requirements.
Values Institutional reliability, feasibility and a market that can be monitored.
Consequences Expects higher compliance costs, but also less scope for the rapid dispersal of stolen funds.
Right
Arguments Emphasises Binance’s responsibility to keep its systems and reserves in order and warns against a broad expansion of state power based on a single incident.
Values Personal responsibility, property rights and restrained government intervention.
Consequences Fears that heavy regulation will push users towards less controllable markets or foreign platforms.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The core claim about the FBI attribution and the amount is confirmed by Reuters. The differing estimates and uncertainty about the remaining proceeds are explicitly incorporated using AP and Elliptic sources.
- confirmed The FBI says North Korea is responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion from Binance. — Reuters cites the FBI on the responsibility and the amount. source
- confirmed The stolen assets were partly converted into ether and further laundering stages are expected. — Reuters reports this observation and expectation from the FBI. source
- confirmed TRM Labs estimated that approximately $6.36 billion was moved from Binance wallets across ten blockchains. — AP cites TRM Labs on this amount and number of blockchains. source
- confirmed Elliptic calculated $6.43 billion and reported approximately $2.85 billion in frozen or seized funds. — These amounts appear in Elliptic’s analysis of 30 October and its update of 31 October. source
- confirmed Binance has said it intends to cover losses with its emergency fund and its own resources. — Elliptic cites Binance on covering the losses. source
Editor's note
The new development is the FBI’s explicit attribution. The precise damage varies by source because of token valuations; the amount of money permanently lost and the full technical details have not yet been established.Sources
The story so far
- Friday, 30 October 2026, 02:55 Binance investigates possible security incident
- Friday, 30 October 2026, 13:24 Binance reports record theft of $6.3 billion
- Saturday, 31 October 2026, 23:56 FBI blames North Korea for Binance theft (this article)
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „binance noord-korea”
- RTL Nieuws — „binance noord-korea”
- FD — „binance noord-korea”