DOJ Secures Court Authority to Seize $1.2 Billion in Cryptocurrency Stolen from Binance by North Korean Hackers
The Justice Department and FBI said more than $2.7 billion of the more than $6 billion taken from Binance in late October has been frozen, with court authorization obtained to seize or restrain over $1.2 billion attributed to the North Korean unit TraderTraitor.
Tommy Flynn
The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from the Binance exchange in a late-October theft attributed to North Korean military hackers. Collective efforts by U.S. authorities and private-sector partners have frozen more than $2.7 billion of the more than $6 billion taken, according to the department.
The FBI has identified the perpetrators as members of a North Korean military unit known as TraderTraitor. M. Scott Proctor, principal deputy assistant attorney general for national security, stated that “North Korea’s government bankrolls its rogue regime and illicit weapons program through cryptocurrency theft.” FBI Cyber Branch Operations Director Brett Leatherman added that the regime “relies on proceeds from large-scale cryptocurrency theft to fund its illicit weapons program, stealing billions of dollars in recent years.”
The theft occurred on or about October 29. On October 31 the FBI, Secret Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation issued a public alert attributing the incident to North Korea and listing addresses for virtual-asset service providers to block. Officials said TraderTraitor actors continue to move remaining funds through bridges, mixers, and exchanges; tracing and forfeiture work remains ongoing. The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, Cyber Division, and Virtual Asset Unit are coordinating recovery efforts.
In the same announcement the department said it had disrupted cloud infrastructure used in a separate North Korean scheme called FaceStealer. That operation, which employed deepfake and recorded video to impersonate trusted contacts on video calls, is linked to more than $400 million in cryptocurrency thefts over 18 months.
North Korean state-sponsored cyber theft has been a recurring national-security concern for successive administrations, with proceeds directed toward the country’s ballistic-missile and nuclear programs. The Binance incident ranks among the largest cryptocurrency heists on record. No timeline has been given for the return of forfeited assets to victims.
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