- The FBI confirmed North Korea’s TraderTraitor group (a Lazarus Group subunit) was behind the $6.3B Binance hack
- FBI, US Secret Service & IRS-CI listed 600+ crypto addresses & urged the DeFi community to block transactions
- Hackers primarily converted stolen assets to ETH; Chainalysis expects tens of thousands of addresses in coming weeks
- Stablecoin issuers froze $2.4B; President Trump said his administration would “talk to North Korea about it”
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation formally attributed the $6.3 billion Binance hack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking operation, a subunit of the broader Lazarus Group, on Saturday, October 31, 2026.
We sincerely thank @FBICyberBranch for their strong support during this challenging time.
— Binance (@binance) November 1, 2026
The FBI issued a joint statement with the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation, listing more than 600 Ethereum addresses, approximately 20 Bitcoin addresses, and one Solana address connected to the attack.
DeFi Community Asked To Block Addresses
The agencies urged private-sector entities, including THORChain node operators, RPC node operators, instant exchanges, DeFi protocols, and blockchain analytics firms, to block all transactions with or derived from the listed addresses. The request was voluntary, not a court order, but carries significant weight given the unprecedented scale of the theft.
Scale Of The Laundering Operation
Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin said attackers had already employed “thousands of addresses” to move stolen funds, and his firm expects “tens of thousands” of addresses to be involved over the coming weeks as the laundering network expands.
Source: chainalysis.com
The FBI noted hackers had primarily converted stolen assets into Ether and expects continued laundering through DeFi swap services.
Stablecoins Frozen & Political Response
Stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether froze over $2.4 billion in stolen USDT and USDC. U.S. President Donald Trump, asked about the hack, said “we’re learning about it” and that his administration would “talk to North Korea about it.”
.@POTUS on the Binance hack: “We’re learning about it. We don’t know if it’s North Korea — but if it is, we’ll talk to North Korea about it.” https://t.co/TgiQ8Amwei
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 1, 2026
In total, North Korea-linked actors have stolen an estimated $6.75 billion in crypto across 263 incidents since 2016, according to blockchain security firm CertiK.
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