North Korea denies involvement in 'largest bank heist in human history' after $6.3 billion stolen from Binance
North Korea has insisted that the hacking group TraderTraitor was not behind the record-breaking Binance hack that was described as 'complex'.
On October 29, Binance – which is the world's largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange – had $6.3 billion with of digital coins stolen.
Reportedly hackers were able to gain access to an engineer’s laptop and the huge hack took them just 20 minutes to carry out.
Roughly $3 billion of it was frozen, but more than $3 billion was successfully transferred.
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Shortly after the attack, the FBI named TraderTraitor as the culprits. It said in a statement on October 31: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is releasing information advising the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, on or about October 29, 2026. The FBI refers to this specific North Korean malicious cyber activity as 'TraderTraitor'."
It went on: "The FBI, together with partners at the USSS and IRS-CI, has observed TraderTraitor actors converting stolen assets primarily into Ether (ETH).
"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."
North Korea's response
Now North Korea has responded to the allegations and denied any involvement in the hack.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister who acts as the Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, called the FBI announcement 'a trite provocation' and 'an absurd rhetoric', ABC News reports.
"This is not the first time that the US has attempted to spread misunderstanding of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) in the international community, blindly linking the DPRK with the 'cyber crime' incidents whenever they occur on an international scale," she said.
"On this occasion, we confirmed Washington’s hostile attitude toward the DPRK once again and are closely monitoring a variety of persistent provocations of the US against our state."
How to protect your cryptocurrency with Binance
Following the hack, Binance shared some advice on its website on how to protect your money:
- Only check your account on Binance's official app or by typing the web address yourself
- Never share your seed phrase or private keys
- Have two-factor authentication set up using things like an authenticator app, passkey, or hardware security key
- Always double check the wallet address before sending funds
- Keep the software on the devices you use Binance on up-to-date and clean
Topics: North Korea, Cryptocurrency, US News, Money
Niamh Shackleton
