FBI blames North Korea for $6 billion Binance crypto hack

Kevin Whitelaw, Bloomberg News on Oct 31, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The FBI said that North Korea was responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in cryptocurrencies in a brazen hacking attack on Binance.

“The FBI, together with partners at the USSS and IRS-CI, has observed TraderTraitor actors converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum,” the FBI said Saturday in a statement, referring to the U.S. Secret Service and the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service. “It is expected these assets will then be further laundered by converting them using DeFi and instant swap services as they prepare them for further laundering stages.”

Earlier, Binance said it has covered about 90% of the $6.3 billion and plans to restore withdrawals by Sunday, making progress on a pledge to fully reimburse customers.

In a social media post on Saturday, the world’s biggest crypto exchange reiterated that it will absorb the full effect of the theft so that users won’t suffer any losses.

The Binance hack is the largest in cryptocurrency’s history, as well as one of the largest cyber incidents more generally, according to experts. It sent shockwaves through the industry, which has been trying to gain more mainstream adoption.

North Korean hackers are well known for their past attacks against crypto exchanges. They’ve been accused by the FBI and cybersecurity experts of some of the biggest crypto heists in recent years, including the $1.5 billion Bybit attack last year and the 2022 theft of about $620 million in cryptocurrency.

TraderTraitor is an elite North Korean hacking unit that the FBI previously blamed for the Bybit hack.

Earlier, President Donald Trump had said the U.S. was looking into whether North Korea was involved in the Binance attack.

“They’re saying they’re guaranteeing it or something,” Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office. “It was a hack. That’s the problem. You know the old-fashioned way when you used to sign a check, take it out. These are different people. Never see the money anymore. So I’ve always felt it was a little bit dangerous.”

Trump in recent weeks has floated new U.S. outreach to North Korea, suggesting that a potential meeting with its leader, Kim Jong Un, could happen this year. Earlier this month, however, Trump downplayed those expectations, saying he was “not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting.”