FBI attributes $6 billion Binance theft to North Korea

The FBI said North Korea was responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, identifying the operation as TraderTraitor and warning that the stolen funds were being moved through laundering channels. The agency said the theft occurred on or about October 29, 2026. In a cyber alert, the FBI reported that it had observed the attackers converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum. It said further laundering through decentralized finance platforms and services that quickly swap cryptocurrencies was expected. Those laundering routes were a forecast by the FBI, not a confirmation that all the funds had passed through them. The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division urged cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain operators, analytics firms and other virtual-asset providers to block transactions involving identified wallet addresses. The warning also called on operators of decentralized finance services to prevent transactions associated with the breach. Binance said it would absorb the losses so customers would not bear them. On October 31, the exchange said it had covered about 90% of an estimated...