NORTH Korea has been blamed for the theft of more than US$6 billion (RM25.5 billion) in cryptocurrency from Binance, in what could be the largest crypto theft on record, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.
The FBI identified the operation as TraderTraitor, a North Korean-linked cyber threat group, following a joint investigation with the US Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division.
The theft occurred on or around Oct 29, targeting Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume.
In a cyber alert issued on Saturday, the FBI said investigators had observed the hackers converting the stolen assets primarily into Ethereum, with further laundering expected through decentralised finance platforms and instant cryptocurrency swap services.
The three agencies urged cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain operators and other virtual asset service providers to block transactions involving digital wallet addresses linked to the operation.
Binance had initially indicated that the breach involved a compromised laptop, but subsequent findings pointed to additional points of intrusion.
The exchange estimated the total stolen assets at about US$6.3 billion, making the incident one of the most serious security breaches in digital finance.
Reuters reported that Binance had replaced about US$6 billion of the stolen assets using company funds, while the exchange and industry partners had identified about US$3 billion in affected assets for possible freezing.
TraderTraitor is associated with North Korea's broader cyber operations, which have been linked to major cryptocurrency thefts. The group is also associated with the Lazarus Group, accused of hacking Sony Pictures in 2014. - November 1, 2026
