FBI seizes €1,000 million in crypto stolen from Binance

The FBI announces the seizure of over $1.2 billion (1 billion euros) in cryptocurrency stolen from Binance in October, attributing the record heist to North Korean hackers

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the seizure of more than $1.2 billion (1,000 million euros) in cryptocurrencies believed to have been stolen in October from the exchange Binance.

The theft of approximately $6.3 billion (5.6 billion euros) from Binance is considered the largest attack of its kind ever, and the FBI had previously attributed the action to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor.

The Department of Justice stated on Thursday that it had obtained court authorization to seize more than $1.2 billion out of an amount of $2.7 billion in stolen funds that are frozen.

In situations like this, the government typically submits a forfeiture request to a judge, who will be responsible for determining who holds a legitimate claim to the recovered funds.

Also on Thursday, the FBI identified North Korea as responsible for a separate social engineering scheme that, according to authorities, resulted in the theft of $400 million in cryptocurrencies over the past 18 months.

This scheme, dubbed “FaceStealer,” involves a complex sequence of events combining the hacking of popular messaging apps with the creation of deepfake-style videos.