US wins authority to seize $1.2 billion in Binance funds
The Justice Department says it has court authority to seize or restrain $1.2 billion of Binance assets, part of a wider freeze tied to a North Korean hack.
By Web3 Hub Newsroom2 min read
The U.S. Justice Department said on Nov. 12 it had court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from Binance in a hack attributed to North Korean actors. The department’s announcement said the theft happened on or about Oct. 29.
U.S. government agencies and private-sector partners have frozen more than $2.7 billion of the stolen assets so far, according to the Justice Department. The $1.2 billion covered by the court authorization is part of that frozen total; the announcement did not say that all of it had already been transferred to government control.
The FBI identifies the North Korean military actors behind the theft as TraderTraitor. The department said they stole more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance and are still laundering funds through cryptocurrency bridges, mixers and exchanges.
Authorities are working with virtual asset service providers to trace, freeze, seize and forfeit the assets, the department said. Last week, the FBI, Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation issued an alert urging providers to block transactions involving addresses used to launder the stolen funds.
The Associated Press reported that the U.S. government typically files a forfeiture claim with a judge, who then determines who has a legitimate claim to recovered funds. The Justice Department said recovery efforts remain ongoing; it gave no deadline for the next court steps.
References
- announcement — justice.gov
- Associated Press — apnews.com