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Binance says 90% of losses from $6.3bn hack covered as FBI says North Korea behind attack

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Guardian staff. (2026, November 1). Binance says 90% of losses from $6.3bn hack covered as FBI says North Korea behind attack. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/01/binance-losses-covered-hack-fbi-north-korea-cryptocurrency

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-11-01 · by Guardian staff

Quick Summary

Binance announced it has recovered 90% of the $6.3 billion stolen in a recent hack, with plans to cover the remaining 10%. The FBI identified North Korean hackers affiliated with the Lazarus Group as responsible for the attack on October 29, 2026. Binance CEO Richard Teng assured users that they will not suffer financial losses due to this incident, and the company has set aside approximately $6.34 billion from its Secure Asset Fund for Users and corporate treasury to address the hack's impact.
Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of November 1, 2026, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has resumed withdrawals for some major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum after covering approximately 95% of the $6.3 billion in tokens stolen from its platform on October 29. The FBI attributed the theft to North Korea. In response to the hack, Tether and Circle, which issue stablecoins, had frozen over $1.5 billion and roughly $2 billion respectively. Binance assured users their funds were safe and would cover all losses with company assets. The extent of damage from hackers was significant, surpassing the previous largest crypto theft in February 2025 by the North Korean-linked Lazarus group, which stole around $1.5 billion from ByBit.

Written for “FBI Blames North Korea for Binance Hack” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 64 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 FBI Blames North Korea for Binance Hack
World · 65 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 13% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 60/100
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Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
13%
2 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
65
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2795 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Guardian staff
72 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Burnham wants to lock in deals on food and drink, emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme at a summit with the bloc next month, but told ministers that the period beyond that would be to “explore options” for the long-term relationship.
🔮 The remaining 10% of tokens are less liquid, meaning they may take longer to buy, the company said in a post on X on Saturday.
🔮 The US has approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine for an estimated $2.1bn, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned deliveries could take years and stockpiles were needed now to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.
🔮 In his first comments since recently being released from a Russian prison, a retired Michigan teacher said he only believed he would be freed when he got new clothes.
🔮 The boon for oil companies has simultaneously been a major pain point for consumers, who say the higher cost of living, especially gas prices, will affect how they vote in the upcoming midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
🔮 Lawyers for the former FBI director James Comey will ask a federal judge on Friday to block the US justice department from pursuing its third criminal case against him.
🔮 The leaderless movement started peacefully in May, with rallies against a luxury hotel project in a nature reserve, backed by US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
🔮 JD Vance has escalated his inflammatory attacks on Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan who has faced an onslaught of Islamophobia, claiming he would lead rioters in “burning down” Detroit.
🔮 Legal experts and rights groups argue the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings because they have apparently targeted civilians who do not pose an immediate threat to the US.
🔮 The strike could be avoided if Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, committed to formal negotiations on pay and working conditions, the BMA said.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Guardian staff
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 72 articles by Guardian staff →

Topics

Binance FBI North Korea TraderTraitor the Lazarus Group

Subjects

Binance ORG · 7× FBI ORG · 4× North Korea GPE · 4× TraderTraitor ORG · 3× Kim Jong-un PERSON · 1× North Korean NORP · 1× Richard Teng PERSON · 1× Sony Pictures ORG · 1× The Federal Bureau of Investigation ORG · 1× the Lazarus Group ORG · 1×

Narrative

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is releasing information advising the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, on or about October 29, 2026,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01
🔮 The remaining 10% of tokens are less liquid, meaning they may take longer to buy, the company said in a post on X on Saturday.

Claims (15 extracted, 2 hedged)

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance says it has replaced 90% of the amount stolen after a record $6.3bn hack of its platform by a group the FBI identified as being backed by North Korea. asserted
FBI → say → Korea
The remaining 10% of tokens are less liquid, meaning they may take longer to buy, the company said in a post on X on Saturday. uncertain
company → remain → Saturday
Co-CEO Richard Teng said separately that the company was “committed to covering the remaining 10%” and that “users will not bear the financial impact of this incident”. asserted
users → say → incident
Binance suspended user withdrawals after the hack, but said in its latest update that it was on track to resume them on Sunday. asserted
it → suspend → Sunday
The announcement came as the FBI on Saturday confirmed earlier suspicions from private investigators and analysts that a North Korea-affiliated group called TraderTraitor was behind the hack. asserted
group → come → hack
TraderTraitor is believed to be part of the 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. asserted
that → believe → un
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is releasing information advising the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, on or about October 29, 2026,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement. asserted
agency → release → statement
The FBI added that it had observed “TraderTraitor actors” converting stolen assets into Ethereum, and expected those assets to be laundered further by converting them using decentralised finance and instant swap services. asserted
assets → add → finance
It said it was urging private sector entities “to block transactions with or derived from addresses TraderTraitor actors are using to launder these stolen assets”. asserted
actors → say → assets
Teng said on Friday that the breach was a “complex attack” involving a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to delete evidence of its activity, making it harder to trace and investigate. asserted
it → say → activity
Binance said it had set aside around $6.34bn of company funds to cover the losses. asserted
it → say → losses
“Our commitment remains the same: Binance will fully cover the financial impact of the funds stolen in this incident,” the company said. asserted
company → remain → incident
The money spent re-buying tokens came from using part of its $1bn Secure Asset Fund for Users, a bitcoin reserve it holds to protect customers in the event of security breaches, as well as some of its Futures Insurance Fund, and the company’s own corporate treasury, it said on X. The attack on Binance came as many observers express worries that the ever-expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence models could compromise cryptography and IT security protocols. uncertain
capabilities → spend → cryptography
Bitcoin plunged nearly 5% after the news of the hack, while Ethereum dropped nearly 6% and BNB, native to Binance, tumbled nearly 10%. asserted
BNB → plunge → Binance
The sheer scale of the hack has put a spotlight on the capacity of North Korea – which faces extensive international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes – to find illicit means to capture revenue. asserted
which → put → revenue
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