North Korea denies record $6.3bn Binance hack
Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, rejected FBI claims that Pyongyang orchestrated the $6.3bn theft from Binance, the largest crypto hack on record, calling them a “grave political provocation”. The FBI and blockchain analysts Elliptic and Chainalysis attribute the attack to the state-backed TraderTraitor group. Binance said it would progressively reopen withdrawals.
“The FBI is trying to brand the DPRK as a ‘cyber criminal state’,” Kim said, according to the state news agency KCNA. The FBI has asked industry partners to help block transactions involving accounts linked to TraderTraitor. North Korea has long been accused of relying on cyber-crime to finance its sanctioned economy, and analysts are now tracing the movement of billions in stolen funds. The scale of the theft will sharpen pressure on exchanges over custody and security standards.