U.S. Department of Justice and Stablecoin Issuers Freeze $2.7 Billion in Assets Stolen from Binance by North Korean Hackers

on November 13, according to Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that after a North Korean hacker group stole over $6 billion in crypto assets from Binance on October 29, U.S. authorities have partnered with major stablecoin issuers such as Tether and Circle to freeze approximately $2.7 billion in illicit funds, and have obtained court authorization to seize or restrict over $1.2 billion of those assets.

This is the largest cryptocurrency theft in history. The DOJ stated it continues to track the remaining funds transferred through cross-chain bridges, mixers, and other channels, while simultaneously targeting another North Korean operation dubbed "FaceStealer," which utilizes deepfake videos for social engineering and has stolen over $400 million in the past 18 months. Binance has confirmed it has covered customer losses using its own capital, while North Korea has denied the allegations.