The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Saturday accused North Korea of being behind the theft of cryptocurrencies worth $6.3 billion through the hacking of the Binance platform.
The FBI said in a statement that “the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from the Binance cryptocurrency trading platform, as of October 29.”
American investigators confirm that they have identified the party responsible for this massive theft, which is a group of North Korean hackers known as “Trader Traitor.” They also discovered that the thieves were working to transfer the stolen funds into the “Ether” cryptocurrency, the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, according to what was reported by “Agence France-Presse.”
The statement stated: “It is expected that these assets will subsequently be subject to additional laundering operations by transferring them through decentralized finance (DeFi) services and instant exchange platforms, in preparation for other stages of money laundering.”
“Decentralized finance” is financial services that operate on the “Blockchain” database. As for instant exchange platforms, they allow converting one cryptocurrency to another quickly, without the need for a bank or traditional intermediary.
The FBI published a list of about 500 addresses on the Ethereum network that Trader Traitor members use to launder stolen assets, and asked cryptocurrency platforms, decentralized finance services, and blockchain analysis companies to block transactions linked to these addresses.
For his part, US President Donald Trump, who constantly boasts of his good personal relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, expressed doubts about Pyongyang's involvement.
He told reporters at his residence in Florida on Saturday evening: “I am not worried. We're going to find out more. “We don’t know if North Korea is responsible.”
The stolen amount is equivalent to four times what the same group seized, according to the FBI, from the “Bybit” platform in February 2025, equivalent to $1.5 billion, which was considered at the time the largest theft in the field of cryptocurrencies.
The scale of the hacking operation that targeted the Binance platform demonstrated the ability of North Korea, which is subject to international sanctions due to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, to obtain revenues illegally.
The Trader Traitor group is part of the Lazarus Group, which is linked to North Korean intelligence services. Lazarus rose to fame in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment studios in response to the satirical film “The Interview,” which deals with North Korea.
According to a report issued by the US Army in 2020, the North Korean cyber warfare unit known as “Office 121” includes six thousand members who also work from outside the country, especially from Belarus, China, India, Malaysia, and Russia.
The Binance platform is the first in the world in terms of digital currency trading volume, and it has 335 million users.
The group reported on Saturday that its customers would once again be able, as of Sunday, to make withdrawals after suspending them following the theft, with the aim of stopping the drain of funds.
The platform, which works to track stolen assets in cooperation with other parties in the cryptocurrency system, confirmed that no harm will befall its customers.
It announced that it used the company's funds to purchase digital codes in order to compensate for 90 percent of the $6.3 billion stolen during the cyber attack.
The company stated on “X”: “Our position has not changed: Binance will fully cover all losses resulting from the funds stolen in this incident.”
Binance explained that the remaining 10 percent of digital tokens “are less liquid, which means that it may take longer to provide them in the required quantities.”
The cyber attack on Binance comes as observers express several concerns that the capabilities of artificial intelligence models will jeopardize encryption and information security protocols.
US President Donald Trump said today that Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost the presidential elections in his country to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, can stay in the United States “as long as he wants,” while Washington confirmed that it did not participate directly in the arrangements that allowed him to leave. His country.
Speaking to reporters at his club in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said that he does not intend to meet Bolsonaro, who traveled to the United States after his loss in the elections.
Trump's statements, which he made to reporters during a Halloween party at his club in Florida, indicate that relations between the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere may remain tense for some time, even as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with the chief Brazilian diplomat earlier yesterday (Saturday).
Trump and his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milley, are facing pressure to clarify the extent of the United States and Argentina's involvement in the senator's escape.
Trump said about Bolsonaro, who lost the election despite his lead in most opinion polls: “He can stay here as long as he wants.” In my opinion, the elections were a farce. He added: “I think he was treated very poorly.” Very bad. “So he can stay here as long as he wants.”
Observers from outside Brazil described the elections as free and fair. Bolsonaro's decision to go to the United States followed a ruling by a Brazilian Supreme Court judge to revoke his passport shortly after losing it, while the candidate faces two federal investigations into money laundering accusations in Brazil, and police deemed that he may pose a flight risk.
He was allowed to enter the United States on a conditional humanitarian release, Reuters reported earlier, a status that usually lasts only one year.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday (Saturday) that he spoke with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, and that they will meet again within weeks.
In statements indicating a possible rapprochement, Rubio told reporters that he is expected to meet Vieira again in France during a summit of foreign ministers of the G7 countries that will be held next month. He added that Brazil is expected to attend the meeting as an observer.
Rubio said that Washington was not directly involved in the arrangements that allowed Bolsonaro to leave his country. Rubio added during a press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where the United States is hosting a two-day meeting of G20 foreign ministers, that Bolsonaro “had previously held an entry visa, and the president made the decision to allow him to enter the country.” But he stressed that “the American government did not participate directly” in the arrangements Bolsonaro made to leave his country.
An American official and an informed source told Reuters that Trump does not currently intend to support the political ambitions of Bolsonaro, who described himself as the legitimate leader of Brazil, despite allowing the Brazilian politician to enter the United States.
Rubio said the US government “was not directly involved in any of the movements” that led to Bolsonaro’s departure from Brazil last week. But Reuters and several other media outlets reported that Jason Miller, a White House official, helped arrange Bolsonaro's trip.
Bolsonaro's father, the far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a prison sentence in Brazil on charges of planning a coup after losing his re-election bid in 2022. Lula himself spent 17 months in prison in 2018 and 2019 on corruption charges that were later cancelled.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had destroyed a large part of Iran's military capabilities, but that it still had to "deal with one or two targets, including a site suspected of being a nuclear facility known as Ax Mountain."
Trump confirmed that negotiations with Iran to end the war that the United States and Israel started at the end of February with strikes on Tehran “are going well, but as you know, they are not completely trustworthy.”
The US President reiterated that the United States is in no hurry to take offensive action because it has caused great damage to Iran's military capabilities and nuclear program.
Trump told reporters at his residence in Florida: “We eliminated their nuclear capabilities.” We still have one or two sites to deal with, but we can accomplish this within 10 minutes,” he said, mentioning the “Axe Mountain” site, located in Isfahan Province, about 200 kilometers south of Tehran.
But the Iranian government denied carrying out any nuclear activities there.
Earlier Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump had not made a decision about launching new strikes on Iran in light of the faltering talks to end the war, and that the United States would be open to a diplomatic solution.
For his part, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned, on Saturday, the United States and Israel against launching new attacks following threats to resume strikes after the midterm elections.
The Iranian army reported on Saturday, according to state television, that an oil tanker “caught fire after colliding with mines,” while Washington confirms that it has removed most of the mines from the area.
Press reports indicate the possibility of launching a short and intense military campaign following the US midterm elections scheduled for Tuesday.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke after the legislative elections about a “historic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to overthrow the Iranian government.
Khamenei stressed in a statement attributed to him, published on his Telegram channel, on Saturday, that “if enemies again launch military or terrorist attacks, the Iranian armed forces and the Iranian people will determine the timing and conditions for ending them.”
The statement added that during his meeting with senior military leaders, the Supreme Leader issued “directives to meet every level and type of threat with an immediate and effective response, without geographical restrictions.” Khamenei also ordered military leaders to update the list of Iranian targets to include “all types of material and intangible assets belonging to the American-Zionist enemy.”
Iran had previously warned that it might consider cutting marine communications cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
At a time when negotiations are taking place under the auspices of the Qatari mediator, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, stated that “Tehran does not see, in the current circumstances, the necessity of meeting with the American side.” Araqchi said in a television interview, according to what was reported by the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA): “Iran’s conditions are clear. At the same time, the mediators continue their consultations on these conditions.”
On the streets of Tehran, the possibility of full-scale war is on everyone's minds. Frema (62 years old) told Agence France-Presse: “Unfortunately, we are a people waiting for war, in one way or another, simply because we have been living in a state of hesitation and anticipation for a year.”
But Ibrahim (48 years old), unlike her, is not worried. He said: “We are not afraid of another war.” We have been at war for 48 years.”
