FBI blames North Korea for record $6.3bn crypto heist | Crypto News
Binance Claims to Have Covered 90% of Losses from Record Crypto Heist
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published Nov. 1, 2026
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced on Saturday that it has successfully replaced 90% of the funds lost in a recent multimillion-dollar hack attributed to North Korean cybercriminals. The FBI has linked this theft, estimated at $6.3 billion, to a group known as TraderTraitor, which was also implicated in a $1.5 billion heist from the Bybit platform last year.
The FBI stated that the suspected actors have been laundering the stolen assets, primarily converting them into Ethereum. They urged virtual asset service providers to monitor and block transactions related to this ongoing laundering operation, providing relevant digital addresses to track.
In response to the incident, Binance clarified that the funds used to repurchase the stolen assets were drawn from its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a Bitcoin reserve designed to protect customers during security breaches. Additional funds came from Binance’s Futures Insurance Fund and its corporate treasury. The exchange noted that the remaining 10% of the losses consists of less liquid tokens, which may take longer to recover.
“We will continue to buy the remaining relevant token assets until the covered amount reaches 100% for all tokens. Binance will absorb the financial impact of these stolen funds, not our users,” the company said in a statement on platform X.
Following the breach, Binance temporarily suspended customer withdrawals, a move intended to safeguard user funds. Company officials announced on Saturday that they expect to resume these withdrawals on Sunday.
Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng described the hacking incident as a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and sophisticated malware designed to erase operational evidence, complicating investigations.
Amid these developments, cryptocurrency prices experienced a decline as Binance sought to reassure its users regarding the security of their funds. The exchange also reported plans to release a proof-of-reserves snapshot that would enable users to verify that their assets are backed at a minimum ratio of 1:1.
