The FBI attributed the theft of more than $6 billion in crypto assets from Binance to North Korea-linked attackers and called for transactions associated with the stolen funds to be blocked.
According to a statement reported by Wu Blockchain, the FBI identified the cyber activity linked to the attack as TraderTraitor. This adds an attribution by a U.S. law enforcement agency and a call to intervene against the addresses to the assessment of North Korean ties previously raised by researchers.
The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the criminal investigation division of the U.S. tax agency, IRS-CI, observed that the stolen assets were converted primarily into Ethereum (ETH). The agencies expect the laundering of the funds to continue through decentralized finance applications and instant swap services.
Transactions linked to the stolen funds in the crosshairs
The call is not limited to crypto exchanges. THORNode operators on the THORChain network, RPC node operators that provide blockchain access, instant swap platforms, DeFi services, and blockchain analytics companies are also among those being addressed.
These organizations were asked to block transactions that involve addresses used by the attackers for laundering or are linked to funds originating from those addresses. The FBI also published a list of addresses controlled by or closely linked to the attackers. The list includes addresses that still hold the stolen assets, as well as those that held them in the past.
North Korean ties had previously been raised in security researchers’ assessments. The latest statement focuses on coordination to prevent the funds from being moved to other platforms and laundered, alongside the attribution of the attack.
Not investment advice.