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Trump says 'we don't know' if North Korea is behind the record $6.3bn Binance heist as experts blame Kim's hackers

Binance halted all withdrawals after a hack through a single engineer's laptop drained an estimated $6.3bn — surpassing the previous record $1.5bn Bybit breach in 2025.
Binance halted all withdrawals after a hack through a single engineer's laptop drained an estimated $6.3bn — surpassing the previous record $1.5bn Bybit breach in 2025.
Kim Jong Un, whose country's TraderTraitor unit carried out the Binance raid using access gained through a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop, according to investigators.
Kim Jong Un, whose country's TraderTraitor unit carried out the Binance raid using access gained through a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop, according to investigators.

North Korea's elite TraderTraitor hacking unit drained $6.3bn from Binance wallets in roughly 20 minutes starting at 4:30pm ET on Thursday, in what experts are calling the largest financial theft in human history. Trump confirmed Friday that the FBI and US Secret Service are working with Binance, but stopped short of formally blaming Pyongyang. Three blockchain intelligence firms — TRM Labs, Chainalysis and Elliptic — attributed the attack with high confidence to TraderTraitor, linked to the wider Lazarus Group. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng says the company has set aside over $6.34bn to cover all customer losses.

Hackers may have got in by compromising a single engineer's laptop, with security experts refusing to rule out an inside job or AI-powered infiltration.

Around $3bn of the stolen crypto is likely gone forever, converted into unfreezable assets like Bitcoin within minutes; roughly $2.8bn was frozen by stablecoin providers.

Crypto hacking funds an estimated half of North Korea's missile programme, and the $6.3bn haul is equivalent to roughly a fifth of the entire country's GDP.

MoreThe HillTrump says US looking into Binance hack: ‘We don’t know’ if North Korea responsibleNY PostHow North Korean hackers pulled off $6.3B Binance heist — inside job, AI-powered techniques could have been at workThe GuardianHow crypto hacking funds isolated North Korea’s nuclear programmeThe SunSecrets of North Korea’s shadowy hacker army after ‘biggest ever heist’The GuardianNorth Korea is likely culprit behind $6.3bn crypto hack, ‘largest heist in history’The HillNorth Korea linked to $6.3B Binance hackDaily Mail NewsHow Kim Jong Un has built the world's most feared team of hackers - with skilled youngsters identified early and trained to become elite cyber thievesBankingnewsEmpire of terror from North Korea: Kim Jong Un's secret army of 8,400 hackers funds nuclear program - BankingnewsReutersFBI and US Secret Service working with Binance after $6.3 billion hack, source saysNY PostNorth Korean hackers steal $6.3B from Binance in ‘largest bank heist in human history’CBS News$6.3 billion Binance hack was likely work of North Korea, blockchain intel firms sayThe IndependentWhat makes North Korea’s state-linked hacker network so powerful?
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