North Korea denied involvement in a record $6.3 billion hack of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, calling US accusations "absurd rhetoric" and a "sinister attempt" to damage Pyongyang's reputation.
Kim Yo Jong, a top North Korean official and sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Tuesday that the allegations represent a "grave political provocation." She stated that "it is the consistent policy stand of the DPRK government to resolutely oppose all sorts of malicious acts in cyberspace."
The FBI, the Secret Service and blockchain analysts attributed the hack to the state-backed hacking group TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group. The FBI has called on industry partners to block transactions from cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group.
The same group was blamed for a then-record $1.5 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit in 2025, according to the source material.
Binance said an engineer's laptop was compromised, allowing unauthorised withdrawals. The company has said it will cover all losses from the attack and has so far covered around 95% of the stolen assets. Customers withdrew more than $3.6 billion after the exchange reopened following the suspension of all transactions.