The U.S. Department of Justice has received court approval to seize or restrict the movement of more than $1.2 billion in assets reportedly stolen in the Binance hack.
According to a statement from the department cited by The Block, the court approval covers a portion of the more than $2.7 billion in assets frozen through the efforts of U.S. authorities and private companies. The approval does not mean these funds have been recovered or returned to victims.
U.S. links the hack to North Korean group
The department blamed the North Korean group known as TraderTraitor for stealing more than $6 billion in assets from Binance at the end of October. Investigators are tracing funds linked to the hack. Binance said it had finished covering the affected assets with company funds and published an updated reserve table.
Infrastructure seized in separate fraud operation
The department also announced that the FBI had seized cloud infrastructure used in a separate fraud operation the agency called FaceStealer. According to the department, the campaign, which used fake video calls, stole more than $400 million in crypto assets over 18 months.
Not investment advice.