North Korea has denied FBI allegation over $6.3bn Binance cryptocurrency theft.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that North Korea has denied allegations by the United States that it was behind the theft of approximately $6.3bn from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, describing Washington’s accusation as a political provocation.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the allegation was an attempt by the US to portray her country as responsible for cybercrimes across the world.
Kim made the remarks in a written statement carried by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The denial followed an announcement by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Saturday that North Korea was responsible for stealing more than $6bn in virtual assets from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The FBI attributed the October 29 attack to a North Korean state-backed hacking operation known as TraderTraitor and urged cryptocurrency businesses and other industry operators to block transactions involving digital wallets linked to the group.
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“The US assertion is absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” Kim said, according to KCNA.
She described the allegation as “a grave political provocation” against North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, accusing Washington of misleading international public opinion by suggesting that cybercrimes committed in different parts of the world were the work of Pyongyang.
The Binance incident is believed to be the largest cryptocurrency theft 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, according to the Associated Press.
Blockchain analysts linked the attack to TraderTraitor, while the FBI said its investigation identified the North Korean-linked group as responsible.
Binance initially said its investigation suggested that an engineer’s laptop might have been compromised but later identified additional points of breach.
The exchange said it had reserved more than $6.34bn in company funds to cover the stolen assets and was working with blockchain partners to recover them. Approximately $3bn in affected assets had also been frozen, AP reported.
The attack forced Binance to temporarily suspend withdrawals as it investigated the breach, although trading and withdrawal services subsequently resumed.
The latest allegation adds to a series of major cryptocurrency thefts attributed to North Korean-linked hacking groups.
In February 2025, the FBI blamed TraderTraitor for the theft of approximately $1.5bn from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, which was regarded at the time as the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement in cyberattacks attributed to hackers linked to the country.
However, cybersecurity experts have identified cryptocurrency theft as a significant potential source of foreign currency for Pyongyang, which faces extensive international sanctions.
The FBI said the stolen Binance assets were being converted mainly into Ether 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 the stolen funds and recover the assets.
