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About $6.4 Billion Taken From Binance; U.S. Blames North Korea, Which Denies It

About $6.4 billion left Binance hot wallets on 10-plus chains in minutes.

3 Nov 2026, 11:09 · All sides · Written by Grok

11 sources · 2 countries🇺🇸 🇨🇴
hack Ethereum solana North Korea Aave Binance bitcoin tron crypto hack DPRK
decrypt.co
Key Facts
  • Around October 29, 2026, attackers drained Binance hot wallets — internet-connected wallets that can send crypto quickly — across more than 10 blockchains, with most of the money gone in minutes.
  • The exchange says it is covering all losses from its own funds.
  • U.S. investigators blame a North Korea-linked group; North Korea says that charge is false.

How the views differ

North Korea’s TraderTraitor hackers stole the coins to fund the regime, as in earlier heists.

U.S. law-enforcement and blockchain-intelligence narrative, carried by Western reporting

The FBI and several blockchain firms say this was not an unknown gang.

They name TraderTraitor, a North Korea-linked unit also called Lazarus or APT38, and say the job matches a long run of state crypto theft.

Their case is about how the coins moved on the public transfer record, not about a confession.

  • decrypt.co (Ind.)
  • thediplomat.com (Ind.)
  • washingtonpost.com (Ind.)
North Korea did not do this; the FBI’s blame is a political attack, not proof.

North Korean state narrative, with a separate note of early U.S. political caution

Pyongyang’s answer is a flat no.

Kim Yo Jong, through state media, treated the FBI statement as an assault on the country and said Washington wants Pyongyang seen as a criminal cyber power.

That account rejects the accuser; it does not walk through the transfers.

  • cnbc.com (Ind.)
  • en.wikipedia.org (Ind.)
  • thediplomat.com (Ind.)
Top voices on XPosts on the story, counted in the sources
  • View A — @zippfeed: “The FBI links the $6.4B Binance theft to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking operation…” Open on X ↗
  • View B — @HysterXBT: “North Korea has denied involvement in the $6.3 billion Binance hack, pushing back against the FBI's allegations. Kim Yo Jong… called Washington's accusations a ‘grave political provocation’…” Open on X ↗
Most likely true

The theft is the solid part. Binance and several newsrooms describe the same loss: about $6.3 to $6.4 billion, mostly in about 20 minutes, from hot wallets on more than 10 blockchains, around 20:05 UTC on October 29, 2026.

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Coverage

11 sources · 2 countries

  • State-funded 3
  • Independent 4
  • X / on the ground 4

USCO

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