New Delhi: More than $6 billion in cryptocurrency has been claimed to have been stolen from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. According to analysts, this could be the largest virtual currency theft ever. Hackers linked to North Korea are suspected to be behind this cyberattack.
TRM Labs, a US-based blockchain investigation company, has attributed the attack to the North Korean-linked hacker group “TraderTraitor.” The company stated that it has strong evidence of this group’s involvement and is highly confident about it.
According to TRM Labs, based on on-chain and off-chain intelligence, this attack has been linked to TraderTraitor, a specialized hacking unit of North Korea. The company states that several characteristics of this attack match previous cyberattacks linked to North Korea.
Blockchain analysis company Chainalysis has also pointed to the TraderTraitor group’s possible role in the attack. The company’s co-founder, Jonathan Levin, wrote on the social media platform X that a North Korean group is suspected to be behind the $6.4 billion attack on Binance. He based this information on clues from previous cyberattacks.
DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.
Claims of Over $6 Billion Withdrawn from Binance Wallet
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has described the incident as a complex cyberattack involving its $6.34 billion funds. According to the company, it is working with its blockchain partners to freeze approximately $3 billion of the affected assets. Efforts are also underway to recover users’ assets.
Binance said in a statement that recovery of affected users’ assets has begun. To this end, work is being done in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, digital asset issuers, blockchain investigation firms, and other industry partners to locate, freeze, and recover additional funds.
The platform also stated that it has secured over $6.34 billion in company funds to address the incident. Of this, $5 billion is in the same tokenized assets affected by the attack.
According to TRM Labs, the attacker withdrew approximately $6.36 billion in assets from Binance wallets across 10 different blockchains. The company claims that a large portion of this amount was transferred within just 20 minutes. If confirmed, this would be the largest cryptocurrency theft ever.
North Korea has long-standing ties to cryptocurrency thefts
TraderTraitor is believed to be part of the Lazarus Group, a hacking group linked to North Korea. This group is said to be one of the world’s most dangerous cyber hacking networks.
In 2014, the group was accused of hacking Sony Pictures’ systems. This attack was reportedly carried out to protest the production of the film “The Interview,” which mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Nearly a decade later, in February 2025, the US FBI also blamed TraderTraitor for a cyberattack on the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. Approximately $1.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen.
According to TRM Labs, many features of the alleged attack on Binance resemble previous cyberattacks linked to North Korea, including Bybit. The company described it as approximately four times larger than the February 2025 attack.
Crypto Market Plunges Following News of Cyberattack
News of the cyberattack on Binance caused a stir in the cryptocurrency market. According to reports, the price of Bitcoin fell by approximately 4 percent to $77,465.
Other major digital currencies were also affected. Bitcoin and Ethereum fell by about 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, while the price of Binance’s own cryptocurrency, BNB, fell by about 1 percent.
This incident has once again raised questions about the security of cryptocurrency platforms and the oversight of digital assets.