The US Justice Department says it has court approval to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion stolen in the Binance hack, which it attributes to North Korea
What happened. The US Justice Department said on Thursday 12 November that it has court approval to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion of the crypto stolen from Binance, The Block, Decrypt and Unchained reported. The department attributes the theft of more than $6 billion, on or about 29 October, to North Korean military hackers the FBI calls TraderTraitor, The Block and Unchained reported. The $1.2 billion is part of more than $2.7 billion frozen so far by US authorities and private companies, the department said, according to The Block.
Why it matters. The order covers part of the frozen money while the rest is still being traced: the hackers are still moving funds through bridges, mixers and exchanges, the department said, The Block reported. North Korea has denied involvement, calling the FBI's finding a political provocation, Decrypt reported.
- In the same announcement the department said it seized cloud infrastructure behind a North Korean scheme the FBI calls FaceStealer, which it links to more than $400 million in crypto theft over the past 18 months, The Block and Decrypt reported.
- FaceStealer invites victims to video calls from hijacked accounts, plays recordings or deepfakes of people they know, then fakes a technical problem to get them to install malware, the department said, The Block reported; the FBI seized more than 900 webcam videos of victims.
- Binance had put its losses at about $6.3 billion and set aside $6.34 billion of company funds to cover them; on 12 November it said it had completed coverage of the affected assets, The Block reported.
- ChainCatcher reported that the $2.7 billion was frozen by Tether and Circle right after the hack; the department credits US authorities and private companies, The Block reported.
- "The National Security Division will use every tool at its disposal to seize and return North Korea's ill-gotten gains," said M. Scott Proctor, principal deputy assistant attorney general for national security, The Block reported.
Read the originals (7), usually in their own language:
- DOJ moves to seize $1.2 billion from Binance hack, disrupts North Korean deepfake scheme · The Block
- North Korea Stole $400 Million in Crypto Using Deepfake Video Calls, DOJ Says · Decrypt
- Court Order Lets DOJ Lock Up $1.2 Billion of North Korea’s Stolen Binance Crypto · Unchained
- North Korea's Binance hack faces U.S. crackdown as DOJ targets $1.2 billion in stolen crypto · CoinDesk
- US Justice Department seizes more than ¥191 billion in crypto that North Korea stole from Binance · CoinPost, headline translated by us
- US Justice Department approved to seize and freeze $1.2 billion of Binance hack funds… cutting off a North Korean money line · Block Media, headline translated by us
- US Justice Department gets court authorisation to seize $1.2 billion of the frozen funds in the Binance hack case · ChainCatcher, headline translated by us