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FBI Says North Korea Behind $6.3B Binance Hack, Seeks Help

The FBI has attributed a major cryptocurrency theft tied to North Korea to a specific pattern of malicious activity it calls “TraderTraitor.” In an alert released this week, the agency said it believes North Korean-linked actors were responsible for the theft of about $6.3 billion in digital assets from crypto exchange Binance on Thursday. The FBI said it most recently observed TraderTraitor converting stolen funds primarily into Ether (ETH). It also expects the hackers to move into more advanced laundering stages, including the use of decentralized finance (DeFi) and instant swap services. Key takeaways The FBI attributes roughly $6.3 billion stolen from Binance on Thursday to North Korea-linked activity branded “TraderTraitor.” According to the FBI, the group’s recent behavior has involved converting stolen assets largely into ETH before further laundering. The FBI expects additional use of DeFi and instant swaps as funds progress through later stages of obfuscation. Business...
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FBI Attributes $6.3B Record Binance Hack to North Korea

The FBI has linked North Korea to the theft of roughly $6.3 billion in digital assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, according to a Saturday statement. The agency said the campaign is carried out by North Korean malicious cyber actors it labels “TraderTraitor,” a name that reflects how the group has been most recently observed moving stolen funds—largely into Ether—before progressing to further laundering stages. In its alert, the FBI urged a wide range of private-sector participants in crypto infrastructure to disrupt the laundering workflow by blocking transactions tied to addresses associated with TraderTraitor activity. The notice also signals that investigators expect more complex movement of funds through DeFi routes and instant swap services as the stolen assets are integrated into the broader ecosystem. Key takeaways The FBI attributes the Binance theft of about $6.3 billion in digital assets to North Korea-linked cyber activity known as “TraderTraitor.” Investigator...
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Texas Brothers Sentenced to 15 Years for Armed Crypto Robbery

Two brothers from Waller, Texas, have been sentenced to long prison terms after federal prosecutors said they carried out a gunpoint kidnapping in Minnesota to obtain access to a family’s cryptocurrency accounts. According to a U.S. Department of Justice release, Raymond Christian Garcia received 180 months in prison and Isiah Angelo Garcia was sentenced to 186 months by a federal judge. The case underlines how crypto-related theft can escalate far beyond online fraud. Prosecutors said the brothers traveled from Texas to Grant, Minnesota, in September 2025, abducted a victim and his family at gunpoint, and held them for more than nine hours while demanding access to crypto accounts. Key takeaways Raymond Christian Garcia was sentenced to 180 months, while Isiah Angelo Garcia received 186 months for kidnapping and armed robbery involving cryptocurrency accounts. Prosecutors said the brothers demanded access to crypto accounts for hours after zip-tieing a family at gunpoint. After ...
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Binance Reports 90% of Stolen Funds Restored, Sets Sunday Payouts

Binance says it has restored 90% of the cryptocurrency assets it claims were stolen in its record $6.3 billion hack, up from 80% the day before. The exchange also says it is on track to restart withdrawals on Sunday, signaling that the recovery process is moving closer to full operational normalcy. In a statement provided to Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson said the exchange is using multiple internal funding sources to make customers whole: its corporate treasury, a partial deployment of the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), and part of its futures insurance fund. Binance reiterated that it will “absorb the financial impact of the stolen funds, not users,” while maintaining that its insurance fund remains above required risk management thresholds. Key takeaways Binance reports it has replenished 90% of the stolen assets, up from 80% previously. The exchange says withdrawals were expected to resume on Sunday as part of its recovery plan. Funding is coming from Binance’s co...
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Strive CEO: Bitcoin resilience after Binance hack exceeds expectations

Bitcoin’s price resilience after Binance’s record $6.3 billion hack has prompted a fresh debate over what such incidents really mean for the network versus individual platforms. Strive CEO Matt Cole said the breach has not altered his long-term investment thesis for Bitcoin, framing the event as a targeted attack on an exchange rather than a failure of cryptocurrency’s underlying technology. Cole’s comments came in an interview on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction on Friday. During the aftermath of the hack, Bitcoin traded around $77,400 as of Saturday at 4:00 pm, according to CoinGecko price data—about 4% below its level shortly before the Thursday incident began. Key takeaways Strive CEO Matt Cole argues the Binance hack is an exchange security breach, not an attack on Bitcoin itself. Bitcoin held up better than some expected declines, though investors should watch for confirmation of whether a market bottom has formed. Glassnode data cited by Cointelegraph says the Binance incid...
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Bitcoin Turns 18: From Rebel Asset to Mainstream Power?

Bitcoin turns 18 today, marking the date when Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper to a cryptography mailing list and effectively kicked off an experiment meant to reduce reliance on trusted intermediaries. The network’s origin story is etched in its earliest blocks, including a message referencing the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of confidence in traditional finance. But if Bitcoin was designed to stand apart from opaque institutions, its teenage years have been shaped by exactly the kind of institutional shocks it sought to escape: exchange failures, regulatory crackdowns, scaling fights, and growing—though still largely theoretical—security concerns such as quantum computing. As the ecosystem matures and institutions move closer, investors are left balancing a familiar promise of decentralization with harder questions about who controls the infrastructure and how the network stays secure as block rewards decline. Key takeaways Bitcoin launched with a genesis...
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Texas Brothers Sentenced to 15 Years for Armed Crypto Robbery and Kidnapping

Two brothers from Waller, Texas—Raymond Christian Garcia and Isiah Angelo Garcia—have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms for an armed robbery targeting a family’s cryptocurrency. The case, prosecuted in the District of Minnesota, involved kidnapping, hours-long confinement at gunpoint, and demands for access to cryptocurrency accounts. According to a U.S. Department of Justice news release , Raymond Garcia received 180 months in prison and Isiah Garcia received 186 months. Both men had pleaded guilty in June, as stated in an earlier DOJ filing . Key takeaways Federal prosecutors described the crime as an armed robbery and kidnapping carried out to obtain cryptocurrency access. The brothers were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank after guilty pleas entered in June. Court documents allege they restrained a family for more than nine hours and forced the victim to obtain additional crypto at a cabin. Earlier DOJ reports and blockchain security commentary ...
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