Binance's own incident report, published on 3 November, has set out how the theft of more than $6 billion from the cryptocurrency exchange happened — and Pyongyang has now denied the FBI's attribution of the heist to North Korea. The FBI's finding, first reported on 31 October, makes this the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.

How the theft happened

The theft took place on 29 October 2026. The FBI said on 31 October that the operation was carried out by TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group associated with the Lazarus Group.

Binance's incident report describes a months-long intrusion involving malicious developer software, a fake job interview, compromised employee computers and wallet-service credentials. Binance estimates that approximately $6.34 billion in digital assets were transferred without authorisation. Blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and TRM Labs had already linked the activity to TraderTraitor before the FBI's announcement.

The same group was blamed for the $1.5 billion theft from crypto exchange Bybit in February 2025. The Binance theft is roughly four times larger, and dwarfs every previous crypto exchange hack.

Most of the money is still moving

About $2.85 billion of the stolen funds has been frozen or seized, according to Elliptic, which traced the money through thousands of wallets. The rest continues to move: Chainalysis said on 2 November that more than $1 billion in ether and about $1.42 billion in bitcoin had seen limited onward movement, while other funds were moving rapidly across chains.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, rejected the FBI's finding in a statement carried by state outlet KCNA and reported by Yonhap on 3 November, calling it a "grave political provocation". The investigation remains open, and no victim count beyond Binance itself has been published. Attribution remains the FBI's assessment; Pyongyang denies it.

Sources: Decrypt, North Korea denies $6.3bn Binance hack, calls FBI finding a political provocation, 3 November 2026; CoinDesk, North Korea denies role in $6.4bn Binance hack after FBI points to TraderTraitor, 3 November 2026; Montana Public Radio / NPR, FBI says North Korean hackers are behind the theft of $6.3bn from Binance, 2 November 2026.