North Korea Denies Role in $6.3 Billion Binance Crypto Heist
North Korea rejected US claims that it was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, after the FBI blamed Pyongyang for the biggest crypto heist on record.
The US assertion that North Korea is responsible for the Binance attack is “absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency Tuesday.
“It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the US misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds,” the statement said, referring to North Korea by its official name.
The rebuttal came after the FBI said Saturday that North Korea was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance on or around Oct. 29. The agency identified the operation as being linked to TradeTraitor, a North Korea hacking campaign previously linked to cryptocurrency thefts.
The FBI said it has observed the hackers converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum and expects them to use decentralized-finance platforms and instant-swap service to further launder funds. US authorities have urged crypto exchanges, blockchain operators and other virtual-asset providers to block transactions linked to addresses used to remove the stolen assets.
The Binance hack has sent shockwaves through the crypto industry and has renewed scrutiny of the security risks facing an industry seeking broader acceptance among mainstream investors.
North Korean hackers have been blamed by US authorities and cybersecurity experts for some of the world’s biggest crypto thefts, including the $1.5 billion Bybit attack last year and the 2022 theft of about $620 million in cryptocurrency.
Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, said it will absorb the full financial impact of the latest attack so users don’t bear any losses. The exchange said Saturday it had replaced about 90% of the stolen assets and remained committed to covering the remainder.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.