North Korea denies stealing six billion dollars from Binance crypto exchange

North Korea has denied claims that it carried out a record cryptocurrency heist against exchange platform Binance, Bloomberg Tech reported. The Federal Bureau of Investigation previously blamed state-sponsored hackers for the theft of more than six billion dollars. In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called the allegations absurd rhetoric, according to Bloomberg Tech. [1][2][3]

SecurityWeek and The Register reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation attributed the October 29 attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking operation linked to the Lazarus Group. SecurityWeek reported that hackers emptied Binance hot wallets across multiple blockchains within roughly 20 minutes, while Binance estimated the losses at six point three billion dollars. [2][3]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation published more than 600 crypto addresses used by the attackers and asked the industry to help prevent the stolen funds from being laundered, according to SecurityWeek and Gizmodo. Gizmodo reported that Binance began restoring withdrawals in phases on Sunday, covering major assets such as bitcoin and ether. Binance stated that it is covering the losses using its own reserves and its Secure Asset Fund for Users, according to Gizmodo. [2][4]

Gizmodo reported that more than six billion dollars in tokens flowed out of wallets associated with Binance after withdrawals resumed. On October 29, 2026, 6.3 billion dollars in digital currency was stolen from Binance in the largest cryptocurrency heist on record, surpassing a 1.5 billion dollar breach at Bybit in 2025. As FTMQ Tech reported earlier, Binance replaced most of the missing assets prior to reopening withdrawals. [4][11][12]