The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has blamed North Korean hackers for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The FBI disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, two days after the cyberattack disrupted operations on the cryptocurrency trading platform.
According to the agency, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance on or around October 29, 2026.
The FBI said it had identified the cyber operation as “TraderTraitor”, a malicious hacking activity linked to North Korean actors.
It added that investigations by the FBI, alongside the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation showed that the hackers had been converting the stolen assets, primarily into Ethereum.
“The FBI, together with partners at the USSS and IRS-CI, has observed TraderTraitor actors converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum,” the statement said.
The agency warned that the hackers were expected to further launder the stolen funds through decentralised finance, DeFi, platforms and instant swap services before moving them through additional laundering channels.
The FBI urged members of the public across the world to provide any information that could assist its investigation.
It also reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the virtual asset ecosystem by identifying, mitigating and disrupting North Korea’s cybercrime operations and cryptocurrency theft activities.
The agency further published cryptocurrency wallet addresses on the Ethereum, Bitcoin and Solana blockchains that it said were holding, or had previously held, assets stolen in the attack. The addresses are operated by or closely connected to North Korean TraderTraitor actors.
DAILY POST reports that Binance suffered the attack on October 29, with hackers reportedly stealing about $6.3 billion from the platform.
However, the cryptocurrency exchange said it had sufficient funds set aside to cover the losses, assuring customers that their assets were safe and that they would not suffer any financial losses from the incident.