FBI Says North Korea Was Behind the $6.3 Billion Binance Crypto Hack

A massive hack stole $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency from Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, said that North Korea was behind the attack. Binance announced on Saturday that it has already replaced 90% of the stolen money using its own funds. The company also promised that regular users would not lose any of their money because of the hack.

The FBI said a North Korean hacking group called TraderTraitor carried out the attack. This group is backed by the North Korean government and is known for stealing money through cyber attacks. Agents watched members of the group turning the stolen funds into a type of cryptocurrency called ethereum. The FBI warned that the group is expected to try to 'launder' the money, which means hiding where it came from so it cannot be traced.

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng explained how the hack happened. He called it a 'complex attack' that used a compromised laptop and special malicious software — a harmful computer program — designed to delete any evidence of the hack. This made it very hard for investigators to trace what happened. The attack was so well-planned that it took experts time to fully understand it.

After the hack was discovered, Binance temporarily stopped letting customers withdraw their funds. The company said it needed time to make sure everything was secure before allowing withdrawals again. Binance announced on Saturday that it was still on schedule to reopen withdrawals on Sunday. This gave customers reassurance that they would soon be able to access their money.

To replace the stolen funds, Binance used money from several different sources. It drew from a special safety fund called the Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU, which holds about $1 billion in bitcoin for emergencies. It also used money from its Futures Insurance Fund and its own corporate treasury — money the company itself owns. In total, Binance set aside about $6.34 billion of its own money to cover the losses.

The remaining 10% of stolen funds has not been replaced yet. Teng said those funds involve tokens that are harder to buy quickly because they are 'less liquid,' meaning there are fewer buyers and sellers for them. However, the company made a clear promise to cover that portion as well. Binance said it has taken a fresh record of all assets on its platform to show customers that their holdings are still safe and fully backed.