North Korea has denied any role in the $6.3 billion hack of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, after the FBI attributed the October 29 theft to the North Korea-linked group TraderTraitor. The episode now runs on two tracks — a cybercrime investigation and a diplomatic standoff — with billions of dollars still traceable across public blockchains.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called the FBI’s findings a “grave political provocation” against her country. Her statement was carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea’s official state news agency, on Tuesday, November 3, days after the FBI identified TraderTraitor as responsible for the attack.

Kim Yo Jong Rejects FBI Allegations

Kim said the FBI was attempting to portray North Korea as a “cyber criminal state.” She questioned the agency’s assertion that a hacking group “supported” by Pyongyang had carried out the Binance attack.

JUST IN: North Korea denies involvement in the $6.3B Binance hack Kim Yo-jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, called the allegations “absurd rhetoric” and accused the U.S. of trying to damage North Korea’s image, despite the FBI and cybersecurity analysts attributing the attack… pic.twitter.com/5rdoJNHxnC — crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) November 3, 2026

Kim described the allegations as “absurd rhetoric” and accused the United States of trying to damage North Korea’s image and national prestige.

“It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the U.S. misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds,” she said. DPRK is the abbreviation for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.

Kim called the accusation a “sinister” attempt to harm North Korea’s reputation and said it violated the country’s sovereignty in cyberspace. North Korea has previously been accused of cryptocurrency thefts and has denied involvement, although it is unusual for Kim to issue a statement about a hacking incident.

She also pointed to U.S. plans to seize stolen cryptocurrency. Kim said the current administration announced last year that it would confiscate such assets for a strategic reserve. She suggested that whoever ultimately receives recovered funds “may get a clue about who is behind the hacking incident.” She did not provide evidence implicating another attacker.

Kim said North Korea was “closely monitoring” what she called U.S. provocations. “We have issues to reconsider in diverse aspects as regards the very unpleasant U.S. hostile attitude,” she warned.

FBI and Elliptic Trace Stolen Assets

The FBI said on October 31 that TraderTraitor had stolen more than $6 billion in digital assets. The group has been linked to earlier cryptocurrency heists attributed to North Korea. The agency worked with the Secret Service and IRS investigators and said the attackers were converting the stolen assets primarily into Ethereum.

The FBI warned that the funds could be moved through decentralized finance platforms and instant swap services. It asked cryptocurrency exchanges and other firms to block transactions associated with the identified wallets. The agency’s alert is available at FBI.gov.

Binance’s initial findings indicated that a compromised engineer’s laptop may have provided access to internal systems. The exchange said it found no evidence that wallet private keys had been leaked.

On November 2, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic estimated the total theft at $6.43 billion. During the first four days, it traced the funds through about 12,000 wallets and more than 40,000 transactions across 11 blockchains. That pace of dispersal is the laundering risk the FBI flagged in its alert, and it is also what keeps the trail followable: transfers on public blockchains leave permanent records that analytics firms can examine after the fact.

Much of the early activity occurred on Tron, involving about 7,700 addresses. The attackers later moved funds to Ethereum through cross-chain bridges. Elliptic said $786 million in stolen stablecoins was exchanged for other cryptocurrencies before issuers could freeze the assets.

Another $2.85 billion, representing about 44% of the total, has been frozen or seized. About $3.24 billion remains in linked addresses, primarily in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Only a small portion appears to have been converted into cash, including approximately 28 Bitcoin sent through mixers. Whether more of that remaining balance is frozen will hinge on exchanges and issuers acting on the FBI’s list of identified wallets, making it the key on-chain figure to follow as the investigation continues.

Binance Restores Withdrawals

Binance said it had replaced about 95% of the affected assets with company funds. The remaining balance consists of less-liquid tokens. Its November 2 reserve check covered 10 major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB and Solana.

The exchange has said it will absorb the losses instead of passing them on to customers. Binance began restoring withdrawals on November 1, initially for Bitcoin and selected assets on Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. Additional withdrawals were scheduled to resume from November 3, subject to operational and security checks.

The original report was published by Blockonomi.