WASHINGTON – The FBI said that North Korea was responsible for stealing more than US$6 billion (S$7.67 billion) in cryptocurrencies in a brazen hacking attack on Binance.

“The FBI, together with partners at the USSS and IRS-CI, has observed TraderTraitor actors converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum,” the FBI said on Oct 31 in a statement, referring to the US Secret Service and the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service.

“It is expected these assets will then be further laundered by converting them using DeFi and instant swap services as they prepare them for further laundering stages.”

Earlier, Binance said it has covered about 90% of the US$6.3 billion and plans to restore withdrawals by Nov 1, making…