FBI says it's recovered $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Binance

Washington — The FBI said Thursday that it had seized more than $1.2 billion of cryptocurrency reported stolen last month from Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange.

The theft of about $6.3 billion from Binance is regarded as the biggest crypto heist in history, and the FBI has previously attributed it to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor.

The U.S. government and private sector have so far combined to freeze more than $2.7 billion of the stolen funds, and the Justice Department said Thursday that it has now obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion of that total.

Typically in those situations, the U.S. government will file a claim of forfeiture with a judge, who will then determine who has a legitimate claim to the recovered funds.

Also Thursday, the FBI blamed North Korea for a separate social engineering scheme that officials say resulted in the theft of $400 million worth of cryptocurrency over the last 18 months. That scheme, known as FaceStealer, involves a complicated chain of events combining the hijacking of popular messaging apps and the recording of deepfake videos.

U.S. officials have repeatedly accused North Korea of using cyber schemes to generate funds for its regime, including its illicit weapons program.

"Cryptocurrency unfortunately has become fertile ground for North Korea to defraud victims and fund its malign activities," First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a Justice Department statement. "Today's seizure shows that America will continue the fight against rogue states who financially gain from cybercrime."

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said in the statement that "By springing into action at a moment's notice, we worked together to freeze this massive criminal fraud in its tracks. The North Korean regime may think they are sophisticated cyber criminals, but we have consistently met them head on, as we did here seizing more than $1.2 billion of their stolen assets."