North Korea rejects FBI accusations attributing to it the hacking of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange platform that occurred a few days ago. Kim Yo-jong, sister of leader Kim Jong-un, denounces the US accusations that she describes as “serious political provocation” and of “absurd rhetoric”. The FBI, for its part, claims that the operation was carried out by the hacker group TraderTraitor, linked to Pyongyang.
The Binance hack involves $6.3 billion in digital assets, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft ever reported. It far surpasses the hack of the Bybit platform in February 2025, which led to the theft of around $1.5 billion and was also attributed to North Korean hackers.
North Korea accuses the United States of trying to tarnish the country’s image
In a statement, Kim Yo-jong affirms that the United States is trying to present North Korea as a “Cybercriminal State”. She questions the elements provided by the FBI and believes that Washington systematically associates her country with important cases of cybercrime.
“The US claim is meaningless rhetoric and is nothing new”declares. She adds that “The United States is deceiving international public opinion, as if all cybercrimes committed in different parts of the world were our work”.
The North Korean official also presents the accusation as “serious political provocation” and claims that Pyongyang is monitoring American provocations. Finally, he warns that his country has “Issues to reconsider from different aspects” in the face of the hostile attitude of the United States, without specifying the measures to which it refers.
In its alert, the FBI attributes the theft to TraderTraitor, a hacking group associated with North Korea. The US agency claims to have identified several digital wallet addresses linked to the stolen funds and is asking exchanges and other industry players to block transactions associated with them. TraderTraitor had already been involved in the Bybit hack in 2025.
However, public information does not yet allow us to reconstruct the entire operation and the FBI has not published all of its technical conclusions. US President Donald Trump himself has said that authorities still do not know for sure whether North Korea was responsible.
For its part, Binance indicated that the attack affected more than $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency assets. The initial investigation pointed to a compromised engineer’s laptop, but the company later discovered other intrusion points. Binance assured that it would cover the losses and gradually restored withdrawals from the affected assets.
Cryptocurrency thefts, a source of income for North Korea
The US accusations are part of a broader context. For several years, intelligence agencies and specialized companies have attributed numerous cryptocurrency thefts to North Korean hacker groups. These operations constitute an important source of foreign currency for the regime, subject to strong international sanctions, and would contribute to the financing of its military and nuclear programs.
Analytics firm Elliptic estimates that North Korea has stolen $7.6 billion in cryptocurrency since the beginning of 2026, more than any previous year. However, it should be noted that these estimates are based on the attribution of flights to North Korean actors and do not constitute direct evidence of their responsibility in the Binance affair.
Kim Yo-jong’s quick reaction could also reflect fear of new US measures targeting digital wallets, laundering rings and platforms used to convert stolen funds. For analysts, these measures could reduce an important source of financing for Pyongyang.
