FBI blames North Korea for record $6.3bn crypto heist

The FBI has linked North Korea to the theft of a record $6.3bn in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Malicious actors from North Korea were observed laundering the ⁠stolen assets ⁠by converting them primarily into the cryptocurrency Ethereum, ⁠the FBI said in a statement on Saturday. The US agency blamed the operation specifically on a group called TraderTraitor, the same group blamed for a $1.5bn theft from the Bybit platform in February last year. According to the statement, the assets are expected to be “further laundered” in stages. The FBI called on virtual asset service providers to block transactions being used in the latest laundering operation, providing the suspected digital addresses to watch for.