North Korea denies role in record Binance hack, calls US charge 'provocation'

North Korea has hit back at US accusations that its hackers drained more than $6 billion (more than 5.36 billion euros) from cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, called the charge "a grave political provocation," according to state media agency KCNA.

Kim described the US claim as "absurd rhetoric and nothing new."

What do we know about the hacking?

The accusation came from the FBI, which blamed a state-tied hacking group called TraderTraitor over the weekend.

This was reportedly the biggest crypto-exchange heist on record, well above the roughly $1.5 billion Bybit raid in 2025, which was also attributed to North Korean hackers. TRM Labs linked the attack to the same group and said it shifted most of the money out within 20 minutes, German news agency DPA reported.

Kim Yo Jong said Pyongyang now had "issues to reconsider" because of Washington's hostility.

North Korea has so far stayed silent on Trump's overtures about reviving summit talks. Analysts in Seoul told Reuters news agency the speed of the denial points to concern that Washington could step up efforts to cut off a funding source widely believed to bankroll arms development.

Is Binance working again?

Separately, Binance announced Monday that withdrawals will restart for additional assets across several blockchains, among them Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Sui, from 04:00 GMT Tuesday.

Selected tokens on Arbitrum, Optimism, Tron and Base are part of the same rollout.

Binance said it replaced most of the stolen assets out of its own funds.