North Korea on Tuesday, November 3, denied responsibility for the record cryptocurrency theft from Binance, after the FBI accused the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor of carrying it out. The loss was estimated at $6.3 billion, or about €5.6 billion.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismissed the U.S. allegations as “absurd” and accused Washington of trying to damage Pyongyang’s international image. In a statement carried by state news agency KCNA, she described the accusation as a serious political provocation and said North Korea opposed malicious acts in cyberspace.
The FBI said TraderTraitor was responsible for the Binance theft and linked the group to the 2025 hack of cryptocurrency platform Bybit, in which $1.5 billion was stolen. TraderTraitor is considered part of Lazarus, a sprawling cybercrime network affiliated with North Korea’s intelligence services.
The United States previously blamed North Korea for the Bybit attack, which was then described as the largest cryptocurrency theft in history. Kim Yo Jong said the latest accusation was part of an effort to portray North Korea as responsible for cybercrimes around the world.
A 2020 U.S. military report said North Korea’s cyberwarfare unit, Bureau 121, had 6,000 members operating in several countries. South Korea’s intelligence service estimated the number of North Korean cyber operatives at 8,400 in 2024.
Sources: Le Monde International.