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The FBI said Saturday that North Korean hackers stole more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance this week, attributing one of the largest digital-asset thefts on record to the regime in Pyongyang.
It was the first public confirmation from U.S. federal investigators that North Korea was behind the attack. Private cybersecurity researchers had pointed to the country earlier.
The FBI identified the activity as “TraderTraitor” and said the hackers took more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, on Thursday.
Investigators, working with the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation, observed the stolen funds being converted mainly into Ethereum. Authorities expect the money to be moved further through decentralized finance platforms and instant crypto-exchange services.
Federal officials urged cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and other digital-asset companies to block transactions involving wallet addresses tied to the stolen funds, in an effort to stop the hackers from moving or laundering the assets.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that his administration was still looking into whether North Korea was involved.
“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.
Binance said it had replenished about 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. It was still buying less-liquid tokens through market and over-the-counter transactions.
“Binance will absorb the financial impact of these stolen funds, not our users,” the company said.
Binance first disclosed the breach on Thursday, reporting that about $6.3 billion in digital assets had been stolen.
Eric Schiffer, chairman of Patriarch and Reputation Management Consultants, said the incident highlights the growing cybersecurity risks facing large financial institutions. He called it one of the biggest thefts in history and said the scale of the loss was upsetting.
Schiffer also warned that more sophisticated cyberattacks could follow, particularly as artificial intelligence advances. “I think the bloodbath of AI hacking is to come,” he said. “And there’s going to be a lot more pain.”
