North Korea Denies It Was Behind $6.4B Binance Hack | CoinDesk Daily
Tuesday, 3 November 2026 · 1 min read · Listen to the episode ↗
Kim Yo-jung denied North Korea’s role in the $6.4 billion Binance hack and called the FBI’s attribution a political attack, while Elliptic cited on-chain evidence linking the theft to the DPRK and said $2.85 billion had been frozen or seized. The episode also covers Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino’s statement that the company holds about 150,000 Bitcoin, and Mercado Bitcoin’s plan to absorb a $40 million hack loss so customers lose nothing.
Kim Yo-jung denied that Pyongyang was behind the $6.4 billion Binance hack and called the FBI’s attribution a political attack on North Korea. The FBI linked the October 29 theft to Trader Trader, which it described as a North Korean hacking group. Elliptic rejected North Korea’s denial, saying on-chain evidence links the theft to the DPRK; it said $2.85 billion in stolen funds had been frozen or seized.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company holds about 150,000 Bitcoin, worth roughly $11.5 billion—about 50,000 Bitcoin more than implied by its latest reserve report. He did not say when the additional Bitcoin was held or acquired, and stressed that the difference does not mean Tether had just made a 50,000-Bitcoin purchase. Since 2023, Tether has committed to investing up to 15% of its profits in Bitcoin.
Mercado Bitcoin said it would absorb the $40 million loss from Monday’s hack, with customers expected to lose nothing. The attack drained hot wallets across at least 10 blockchains and temporarily suspended the platform. About $11 million has been frozen with help from Tether, Circle, and Chainalysis.
This summary was generated from the episode transcript and can contain mistakes.