What the FBI said
The FBI said North Korea carried out the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrencies from Binance. Working with the US Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation, the bureau said Saturday that it has seen TraderTraitor actors convert the loot primarily into Ethereum, and it expects them to push those funds through decentralized finance and instant swap services next.
"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. "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."
Binance's response
Binance reported that about 90% of the $6.3 billion has been covered and that it expects to re-enable withdrawals by Sunday, describing this as a step toward fully reimbursing customers. In a Saturday social media post, the world's largest crypto exchange repeated that it will take the entire hit so users will not bear losses.
Experts say this is the biggest hack in crypto's history and among the largest cyber incidents overall, a blow to an industry that has been trying to win mainstream acceptance.
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The North Korea track record and Trump's remarks
North Korean hackers have been tied by the FBI and cybersecurity experts to several of the largest crypto heists in recent years, including last year's $1.5 billion Bybit attack and a roughly $620 million theft in 2022. The FBI has previously attributed the Bybit breach to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean unit.
Earlier, President Donald Trump stated that the US was examining if North Korea had a role in the Binance attack. "They're saying they're guaranteeing it or something," he said to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
"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." In recent weeks, he raised the prospect of renewed US engagement with Pyongyang, indicating that a meeting with Kim Jong Un might take place this year; however, earlier this month he tempered that idea, saying he was "not sure that anybody's asking for a meeting."
Why it matters for your portfolio
If the largest crypto hack on record ends with customers made whole, that reduces immediate contagion risk across exchanges. The bigger watch item is the laundering trail the FBI flagged, which can pressure token liquidity if large swaps hit thin markets. For exchange tokens and trading volumes, how quickly Binance restores withdrawals and normalizes operations will set the tone for near term crypto market plumbing.
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