North Korea denies involvement in $6.3bn Binance hack
North Korea has rejected US allegations that it was behind the theft of approximately $6.3bn from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, describing the accusation as a political provocation.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Washington of attempting to portray her country as responsible for cybercrimes worldwide.
*North Korea denies role in binance heist.
Nkereuwem Effiong
North Korea has rejected US allegations that it was behind the theft of approximately $6.3bn from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, describing the accusation as a political provocation.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Washington of attempting to portray her country as responsible for cybercrimes worldwide.
Kim made the remarks in a written statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, following an announcement by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that North Korea was responsible for the October 29 cyberattack.
“The US assertion is absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” she said, describing the allegation as a political provocation against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
She accused the United States of misleading international public opinion by attributing cybercrimes committed in different parts of the world to Pyongyang.
The FBI said the October 29 attack was carried out by TraderTraitor, a hacking group linked to the North Korean government. It urged cryptocurrency businesses and other industry operators to block transactions involving digital wallets associated with the group.
The theft is believed to be the largest cryptocurrency heist on record. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM estimated that approximately $6.36bn was transferred from Binance wallets across 10 blockchains, with most of the transactions completed within about 20 minutes.
Binance initially said its investigation suggested that an engineer’s laptop might have been compromised before identifying additional points of breach.
The cryptocurrency exchange said it had set aside more than $6.34bn in company funds to cover the stolen assets and was working with blockchain partners to recover them. It also reported that approximately $3bn worth of affected assets had been frozen.
The attack forced Binance to temporarily suspend withdrawals while it investigated the breach, although trading and withdrawal services subsequently resumed.
The latest allegations come amid a series of major cryptocurrency thefts attributed to North Korean-linked hackers.
In February 2025, the FBI blamed TraderTraitor for stealing approximately $1.5bn from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, then considered the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
North Korea has consistently denied involvement in cyberattacks attributed to hackers linked to the country.
However, cybersecurity experts have identified cryptocurrency theft as an important source of foreign currency for the isolated country, which faces extensive international sanctions.
The FBI said the stolen Binance assets were being converted mainly into Ether, the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network, as the hackers prepared to move the funds through decentralised finance platforms and instant-swap services to conceal their origins. Binance said it was working with law enforcement agencies and other partners to trace and recover the stolen funds.
