North Korea Rejects FBI $6.3B Binance Hack Findings Citing US Bias

TL;DR

• Denial Issued: North Korea rejected FBI allegations linking the country to the $6.3 billion Binance hack, with Kim Yo Jong calling the claims politically motivated.
• Investigations Continue: The FBI, blockchain investigators, and analytics firms linked the attack to TraderTraitor and Lazarus-associated activity, despite the public denial.
• Fund Tracking: Analysts continue monitoring stolen assets as Binance resumes withdrawals, with investigators watching whether laundering patterns resemble previous cases attributed to North Korea.
  

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North Korea has rejected allegations from U.S. investigators that it was behind last week’s massive Binance hack, a cyberattack that authorities have linked to the theft of roughly $6.3 billion in digital assets. In a statement published by state news agency KCNA, Kim Yo Jong dismissed the accusations and described them as a political provocation aimed at damaging her country’s image. The comments came days after the FBI said North Korea was responsible for the attack and identified the TraderTraitor operation as the suspected actor behind it.

Kim Yo Jong Calls Accusations Politically Motivated

Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the ruling Workers’ Party, argued that Washington routinely blames North Korea whenever a major cryptocurrency theft takes place. She referenced previous cases, including the Bybit hack, and described the latest allegations as “absurd rhetoric and nothing new.” According to the statement, Kim accused the United States of trying to harm North Korea’s international reputation and interfere in its internal affairs.

She also pointed to Washington’s stated plans to confiscate illegally obtained crypto assets and place recovered funds into a strategic reserve. In one of the sharpest parts of the statement, Kim suggested that observers should consider who ultimately benefits when stolen cryptocurrency is recovered. She concluded by warning that Pyongyang was closely watching U.S. actions.

Investigators Continue to Point to DPRK-Linked Actors

Despite the denial, the FBI has attributed the Binance attack to North Korea and said TraderTraitor was observed moving stolen digital assets into ETH before routing them through decentralized finance platforms and instant-swap services. Other investigators reached similar conclusions. Blockchain analysis firms and on-chain researchers linked the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, while Elliptic tracked funds through thousands of wallets.

The firm reported evidence of automated laundering activity but said there was no proof that AI agents were directing the transactions. The Binance theft, if attribution is correct, would represent one of the largest cryptocurrency attacks ever associated with North Korea.

Focus Turns to the Movement of Stolen Funds

Officials and analysts continue monitoring the flow of assets connected to the attack. Binance has already resumed withdrawals, with users reportedly withdrawing more than $4 billion shortly after services reopened. Meanwhile, North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement in major cyberattacks. Kim argued that U.S. accusations reflect a hostile attitude toward North Korea, but investigators maintain that transaction patterns remain a key source of evidence.

AMLBot executive Vasily Vidmanov said future fund movements may provide additional clues. According to his assessment, laundering patterns matching earlier thefts attributed to North Korea could ultimately strengthen investigators’ conclusions.