FBI links $6.3 billion Binance crypto heist to North Korean hackers

Illustration of a security shield with a check mark

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has officially attributed a $6.3 billion cryptocurrency theft from Binance to North Korean state-sponsored hackers known as TraderTraitor, also tracked under the names Lazarus Group, Jade Sleet, and APT38. The attack, which occurred in October 2026, represents the largest cryptocurrency heist on record. Blockchain intelligence firms had previously linked the theft to the same group. The breach resulted from a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop that gave attackers access to withdraw approximately $6.36 billion in cryptocurrency across ten blockchains in just 20 minutes.

Federal authorities have identified 628 cryptocurrency addresses associated with the theft and are requesting exchanges and virtual asset providers to block related transactions. The attackers are expected to launder stolen funds through decentralized finance platforms and cryptocurrency swap services, with a focus on converting assets to Ethereum. TraderTraitor has a documented history of targeting cryptocurrency companies, employing tactics such as fake job recruitment schemes to compromise employee devices. Binance has committed to covering the financial impact and announced plans to resume withdrawal services while continuing to recover stolen assets, with approximately 95 percent of the impacted amount already covered.

Source: Read the full story at BleepingComputer

This summary was written with AI assistance from the linked source.

Send this to yourself, or to someone who should see it

Enter your email and we will send you a link to this article.

We use your email only to send this link. It is not saved or added to any list.

Or share it