Business: FBI blames North Korea for the $6.3 billion Binance theft, the largest crypto heist ever

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, resumed withdrawals of bitcoin and 14 other cryptocurrencies on Sunday after covering 95% of the $6.3 billion stolen in the largest heist in cryptocurrency history, an attack the FBI on Saturday attributed to the North Korean state-backed unit TraderTraitor.

The theft, which according to analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis unfolded in about 20 minutes starting late Thursday, drained the platform's hot wallets. Binance said it bought replacement tokens with company funds — its roughly $1 billion bitcoin Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), its futures insurance fund and its corporate treasury — and set aside around $6.34 billion to cover the losses. The remaining 5% consists of less liquid assets that will take longer to replace, according to the company.

The FBI said it observed TraderTraitor actors converting the stolen funds mainly into ether and warned that it expects further laundering through decentralized finance platforms and instant swap services; it urged industry firms to block addresses linked to the group. The bureau had already attributed the theft of about $1.5 billion from the Bybit platform in February 2025 to TraderTraitor.

Binance processed about $4.6 billion in withdrawals and $1 billion in deposits by 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, according to CNN, and said it will absorb the financial impact and that users' funds will not be affected. A team of industry firms managed to freeze around $3 billion of the stolen assets. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States was still not certain about North Korean involvement in the attack.

Photo: A Lo Claro Archive

Source: Reuters