North Korea has denied claims that it was behind the record-breaking $6.3 billion (£4.7 billion) hack at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, calling the accusations “absurd rhetoric.”
Kim Yo-jong, a leading official in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Tuesday that the charges are a new “malicious attempt” by the US to damage Pyongyang’s reputation.
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The US FBI, Secret Service and cyber analysts have said that North Korea orchestrated the hack, which has been described as the largest in history.
This is the latest hack linked to North Korea, which has repeatedly been accused of using cybercrime to fund its sanctioned economy.
Blockchain analysts and the FBI have said that the attack was led by the state-backed hacker group TraderTraitor.
The FBI has asked industry partners to help block transactions involving cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group.
“The United States has once again made a banal provocation by linking this to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Kim Yo-jong, director of North Korea’s General Affairs Department, said in a statement.
“It is a serious political provocation against the DPRK that the United States is misleading international public opinion as if all cybercrime in various parts of the world is our act,” she said.
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However, Pyongyang has been blamed for a number of major cyber attacks in recent years – accusations they have denied.
The TraderTraitor entity, also known as the Lazarus Group, was accused of a then-record-breaking $1.5 billion hack against crypto exchange Bybit in 2025.
Pyongyang has systematically built up its cyber operations, recruiting promising students from universities and sending them to hacker units monitored by North Korea’s intelligence service, according to research groups such as the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies think tank.
The country has consistently rejected such claims.
Kim Yo-jong said, “It is the consistent policy of the DPRK government to resolutely oppose all kinds of malicious actions in cyberspace.”
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Binance did not respond to the BBC’s inquiries about North Korea’s alleged involvement in the hack.
Since the incident, the crypto giant has largely focused its public statements on the technical nature of the breach and its response to protect its users.
The company’s spokesperson said that a net $4.72 billion has been withdrawn from the exchange since transactions resumed on Sunday.
Net outflows make up a “relatively limited portion” of Binance’s total assets, which amount to approximately $157 billion, the spokesperson told the BBC on Tuesday.
The figure reflects the impact of the hack, subsequent withdrawals, and changes in the market price.
“Pullback levels are now stabilising at what we would consider normal and expected on-chain activity,” she added.
The company said last week that initial checks indicated that an engineer’s laptop was compromised, allowing an attacker to make unauthorized withdrawals.
Trading in major cryptocurrencies on Binance has since resumed after the exchange partnered with issuers to freeze assets affected by the hack.
The company has repeatedly said that it will cover all the losses associated with the attack, and that it has so far covered around 95% of the assets stolen in the breach.
Crypto company Binance promises to cover 90% of losses after $6.3 billion hack
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