The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it has seized more than $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Binance. The seizure follows the largest cyber heist in the history of the cryptocurrency industry.
According to the FBI, about $6.3 billion was stolen last month from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. U.S. authorities have attributed the massive theft to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that joint efforts between the government and the private sector have frozen more than $2.7 billion of the stolen funds. Officials confirmed that court authorization has now been secured to seize or restrain over $1.2 billion of that recovered total.
In such asset-recovery cases, the federal government typically files a forfeiture claim with a judge to formally determine legitimate ownership and return of the funds.
Additionally, the FBI attributed another social engineering scheme to North Korea that resulted in the theft of $400 million in digital assets over the past 18 months. Known as FaceStealer, the operation involved hijacking popular messaging applications and using deepfake videos to deceive targets.
United States officials have repeatedly stated that North Korea relies on cyberattacks and crypto thefts to fund state operations, including its illicit weapons programs.
Source: FBI
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