North Korea rejects FBI accusation over $6 billion theft from Binance
Kim Yo Jong's statement calls the accusations a political provocation; FBI attributes the theft of US$6.3 billion to the North Korean group TraderTraitor.
BY THE X-TRADER NEWS NEWSROOM · REPORTING FROM TIMES BRASIL · 2 MIN
North Korea refuted, on Tuesday (3, local date), the FBI's accusation of being responsible for the theft of around US$6 billion from Binance, according to Times Brasil. The response came in a statement from Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, released by the state agency KCNA.
Kim called the accusations a political provocation and said it was absurd rhetoric. At the same demonstration, he related the case to the previous episode of Bybit, an attack last year that Washington blames on North Korea, which gives the dispute a history of mutual accusations.
The numbers do not match between sources. The Times Brasil cites US$6 billion, while InfoMoney, based on a Bloomberg report, speaks of US$6.3 billion and states that the FBI attributes the theft to hackers from the North Korean state itself.
According to the same report, the accused group is an elite unit called TraderTraitor. North Korea has a hacker army numbering thousands, but TraderTraitor may have as many as 12 members, according to experts.
The text also states, without independent verification, that artificial intelligence gave the group a new tool for attacks and that the revenue obtained would go to military programs. As a backdrop, the report recalls that North Korea has nuclear weapons, which gives the case geopolitical weight in addition to cybercrime.
What is at stake, for now, is attribution. On one side there is Washington's accusation, on the other Pyongyang's denial, and the facts found do not allow us to conclude which version will prevail.
What changes for the investor
Based on the facts found, the case does not have a direct channel for stock market, dollar or interest prices. The potential effect is indirect and appears in the perception of risk regarding cybersecurity and custody of cryptoassets, a topic that returns to the center of the debate whenever a theft of this size gains prominence. If the accusations are confirmed, the discussion about platform responsibility and controls tends to gain more weight, and it is worth following official developments before drawing any market conclusions from the statement.
Automatically translated from Portuguese.
