FBI seizes $1.2 billion in crypto from North Korea's historic Binance heist

The FBI announced it has seized over $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen in last month's massive $6.3 billion hack of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. Federal authorities have now secured court authorization to take control of these funds, which they attribute to North Korea's TraderTraitor hacking group. Combined with earlier freezes by the private sector, more than $2.7 billion of the stolen crypto has been locked down.

This represents a major blow against state-sponsored cryptocurrency theft, particularly from North Korea which has been repeatedly accused of using cyber heists to fund its weapons programs. The recovery effort shows increased coordination between law enforcement and the crypto industry to track and seize stolen digital assets. While the funds recovery process through forfeiture courts will be complex, this seizure marks one of the most significant law enforcement victories against international crypto crime.