US Court Authorizes Seizure of $1.2B Stolen in Binance Hack

The US Department of Justice has secured court permission to seize or freeze over $1.2 billion in funds taken from Binance. The money traces back to the October 29 hack that the FBI has attributed to North Korea's state-backed hacking group.

That amount accounts for under one-fifth of the stolen sum. Blockchain records indicate billions more remain within reach of the Binance hacker.

A $1.2 Billion Slice of a $2.7 Billion Freeze

The DOJ announced the move on November 12 in a statement. The FBI has linked the Binance breach to a North Korean group it designates as "TraderTraitor."

Efforts by authorities and private entities have so far frozen more than $2.7 billion. The $1.2 billion court order targets a portion of those frozen funds.

Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva credited the DOJ's Criminal Division for acting swiftly to secure the freezes.

“As the Department’s liaison to the digital asset industry, the Criminal Division quickly and efficiently used its expertise to immediately halt about half of this historic breach,” Duva said.

Binance customers are already protected. The exchange stated it reimbursed every token lost in the breach using its own treasury and insurance reserves. Any funds later forfeited by the US will therefore not affect user holdings.

The DOJ noted that its recovery efforts continue as the hackers keep shifting funds across bridges, mixers, and exchanges.

Where the Rest of the $6.34 Billion Sits

On-chain data reveals how far the laundering has progressed. Onchain Lens estimated the total stolen amount at roughly $6.34 billion in an update earlier this week, drawing on Arkham Intelligence data.

Around $2.85 billion remains within the hackers' control. The remaining $891 million may have already been transferred or cleaned, according to the firm.

In recent days, the hackers have also moved funds through cross-chain protocols THORChain and Chainflip.

Meanwhile, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic tracked roughly 1,650 Bitcoin (BTC) to new addresses by November 6. Those coins originated from other stolen assets, and some funds later entered the Tornado Cash mixer.

Earlier, the FBI, Secret Service, and IRS-CI called on crypto service providers to block addresses linked to the laundering. Onchain Lens questioned whether the hackers could shift another $1 billion before THORChain and Chainflip restrict the associated wallets.