FBI confirms North Korea was responsible for 'biggest hack in history' after $6.3billion was stolen from crypto giant Binance... as surreal details of 'high-speed robbery' are revealed

FBI confirms North Korea was responsible for 'biggest hack in history' after $6.3billion was stolen from crypto giant Binance... as surreal details of 'high-speed robbery' are revealed - Sign up for our US Editor's Picks newsletter for the best exclusive stories - READ: Alexander brothers assaulted in prison The Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed North Korea was behind the 'biggest hack in history' after $6.3billion was stolen from the cryptocurrency giant Binance, sending executives into an overnight panic. An investigation led by the FBI, the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation has uncovered malicious North Korean cyber activity by 'TraderTraitor,' an elite hacking group. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes, said on Thursday that investigations had 'uncovered additional points of breach,' contrary to initial findings that suggested the hack involved a single compromised laptop. The company later said the estimated total impact was 'around $6.3 billion,' making the hack one of the most significant security incidents on record. TraderTraitor is believed to be part of Lazarus Group, which gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for The Interview, a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The hack played out in real time, as billions poured out of accounts on Thursday evening, sending crypto executives into a frenzy. Insiders recalled the surreal breakdown of what happened in the wake of the attack to the New York Times, describing a frantic picture of executives around the world hopping on late-night conference calls, analysts staying up all night in a glitzy New York conference room, and founders feverishly posting on X. The FBI has confirmed a historic hack on Binance was done by 'TraderTraitor,' which gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for The Interview, a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Donald Trump pardoned founder Changpeng Zhao after he pleaded guilty for charges related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform Zhao, who is no longer the company's CEO but founded Binance, posted a slew of updates on the hack online Despite the FBI's official statement, President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt that North Korea was responsible for the hack. When asked about the findings by a reporter on Saturday night at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said his administration was 'learning about' what happened. The president said he was 'not concerned,' adding, 'We don't know if it's North Korea — but if it is, we'll talk to North Korea about it.' Immediately after the hack, Changpeng Zhao posted a slew of frantic updates to his X account, telling his followers: 'It hurts, but we will survive.' Employees of the crypto analytics firm Chainalysis quickly flocked to a conference room called the 'Silk Road' in New York and worked all night to investigate the hack. Chainalysis said the attackers have 'laundering patterns we have not seen before,' attributing the hack to TraderTraitor before the FBI confirmed the findings. Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin was on a video call with a senior US official discussing cyber attacks on enemies of the US when he received the news of the hack, he told The Times. Meanwhile, Binance executives gathered for a massive conference call. He Yi, Binance’s co-chief executive, who is seven months pregnant, took the call at 3am in Abu Dhabi. Zhao kept his followers updated throughout the ordeal, even chastising Elon Musk for posting a grimacing emoji on a post making fun of him, writing: 'Bad time to troll. Please stop.' Binance's co-CEO Richard Teng said in a video message on Friday that the company was 'working nonstop' and was 'committed to covering all hack losses,' assuring traders that their 'assets were safe.' 'This was a complex attack,' Teng said. He explained that the attacker used a self-destruct mechanism that made it difficult to trace. Teng continued that the company would conduct a full security review in the wake of the attack. Trump appeared to cast doubt on the FBI's investigation, telling a reporter that his administration did not 'know if it's North Korea' TraderTraitor is no novice when it comes to elite multi-billion-dollar hacks. They became infamous in 2014 after the Lazarus Group, which the FBI believes employs the same hackers as TraderTraitor, leaked internal data at Sony Pictures. Officials said the hack was motivated by Sony's release of The Interview. Kim Jong Un called the film 'an act of terrorism.' Two years later, North Korean hackers initiated a plot to steal $1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The scheme was thwarted when bankers realized the hackers misspelled 'foundation' as 'fandation.' In 2022, US officials once again accused the Lazarus group of stealing $620 million in cryptocurrency from the video game Axie Infinity. Then in 2025, TraderTraitor pulled off the biggest-ever cyber-attack of its kind to date: $1.5 billion taken from the Bybit platform. They pulled it off by tricking chief executive Ben Zhou into authorizing a seemingly routine transaction that gave them access to the software. Yi He, Binance's co-founder, took a call about the hack at 3am in Abu Dhabi. She is pictured above with Zhao in 2017 after they launched Binance Zhao frantically posted updates on X after the massive hack. He no longer serves as the company's CEO but is still a shareholder Zhao pleaded guilty to charges related to his failure to prevent money laundering at Binance in 2023. A courtroom sketch is pictured above Binance also has a checkered history with the law. Zhao pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform and stepped down as CEO in 2023. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025. He was released from prison in 2024 after being sentenced for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Zhao was the first person ever sentenced to prison time for violations of that law, which requires US financial institutions to know who their customers are, to monitor transactions and to file reports of suspicious activity. Prosecutors said no one had ever violated the regulations to the extent Zhao did. Mr Zhao and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family´s crypto enterprises. The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House and the FBI for additional comment.