- The FBI attributed the October 29 theft of more than $6 billion in crypto assets from Binance to North Korea’s TraderTraitor cyber operation.
- U.S. law enforcement said the perpetrators are converting the stolen assets mostly into Ethereum and may use DeFi protocols and instant swap services to launder them further.
- The FBI published a list of associated Ethereum addresses and urged crypto service providers to block related transactions.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation attributed the theft of more than $6 billion in crypto assets from Binance on October 29 to North Korea. The scale of the theft and the continuing movement of the assets prompted U.S. law enforcement agencies to ask crypto companies to disrupt transactions linked to the perpetrators’ wallets.
The FBI said the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was responsible for the theft. The agency uses the name TraderTraitor for the specific North Korea-linked cyber operation behind the attack.
Stolen assets converted mostly into Ethereum
The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division tracked the conversion of the stolen assets mostly into Ethereum (ETH), according to the agency.
The FBI said the perpetrators may continue moving the funds through decentralized finance services and instant crypto-asset swap platforms in preparation for further laundering.
The agency published a list of Ethereum addresses that held or previously received assets stolen in the attack. In the FBI’s assessment, North Korean TraderTraitor operators control those addresses or are closely associated with them.
Law enforcement urges crypto services to block transactions
The FBI, Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation called on crypto industry participants to help disrupt the movement of the stolen assets. The request covered:
- THORChain and RPC node operators;
- instant crypto-asset swap services;
- DeFi platforms;
- blockchain analytics companies; and
- other virtual asset service providers.
The agencies advised those providers to block transactions from the published addresses, as well as activity originating from or linked to them.
The FBI said it continues working to identify, deter and disrupt North Korea’s illicit cyber activity, including digital-asset theft. It asked anyone with information about the incident to contact a local FBI field office or the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Binance set aside more than $6.3 billion to cover losses from the large-scale hack.
Source: Incrypted
