Wednesday, November 4, 2026 - North Korea has rejected FBI allegations linking it to a reported $6 billion theft from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, with Kim Yo Jong describing the accusation as a “grave political provocation”
In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News
Agency on Tuesday, November 3, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
dismissed the allegation as “absurd rhetoric and nothing new”. She referred to
previous US accusations connecting North Korea to the major attack on
cryptocurrency platform Bybit last year.
“It is a grave
political provocation against the DPRK that the US misleads the international
public opinion as if all the cybercrimes in different parts of the world are
our deeds,” she said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.
The FBI said on Saturday that TraderTraitor, a hacking group it associates with
North Korea, was responsible for the Binance attack.
The same group was blamed for the theft of $1.5 billion from
Bybit in February last year. That incident had been described as the largest
cryptocurrency theft before the reported Binance breach. Kim accused Washington
of seeking to damage North Korea’s international standing.
“This is a sinister attempt to damage the international
image of the DPRK and undermine its dignity and national prestige and another
grave violation of the sovereignty of the DPRK,” she said. “It is the
consistent policy stand of the DPRK government to resolutely oppose all sorts
of malicious acts in cyberspace,” she added.
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by
daily trading volume. News of the reported attack was followed by sharp falls
in the prices of most major cryptocurrencies on Friday, October 30.
Despite the FBI’s attribution, US President Donald Trump
expressed uncertainty about North Korea’s involvement when questioned on
Saturday, October 31. “I’m not concerned. We’re learning about it. We don’t
know if it’s North Korea,” he told reporters at his residence in Florida. Trump
has made several overtures to Pyongyang since returning to office and has said
he would be willing to meet Kim Jong Un this year.
North Korea has not publicly responded to those gestures.
Kim Yo Jong said the latest allegations had “confirmed Washington’s hostile
attitude toward the DPRK once again”. “We have issues to reconsider in diverse
aspects as regards the very unpleasant US hostile attitude,” she added.
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