WASHINGTON (Azat TV) – The U.S. government has secured court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency linked to a massive cyberattack on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to an announcement issued on Thursday, November 13, 2026. ABC News reported in an article published by ABC News that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice achieved the milestone following a theft last month totaling approximately $6.3 billion, which authorities regard as the largest crypto heist in history.
The massive digital asset breach has been attributed by the FBI to a North Korean hacking collective known as TraderTraitor. In addition to the newly authorized court seizures, collaborative efforts between the federal government and private sector actors have successfully frozen more than $2.7 billion in stolen funds worldwide as investigators race to intercept remaining digital tokens before they can be laundered through illicit channels.
Legal Mechanics and Forfeiture Process
Following the court’s authorization to restrain the assets, the U.S. government typically files a formal claim of forfeiture with a presiding judge. This legal mechanism requires judicial review to determine rightful ownership and establish whether victims or legitimate claimants can recover portions of the frozen capital through established restitution procedures.
Financial regulators and law enforcement agencies have intensified scrutiny on decentralized finance platforms and centralized exchanges alike, seeking to close loopholes exploited by sophisticated state-sponsored threat actors. The scale of the $6.3 billion heist has underscored persistent vulnerabilities in cross-border digital asset tracing and asset recovery operations.
Broader Cyber Threats and State-Sponsored Schemes
During the same briefing in Washington, federal law enforcement officials disclosed details regarding a separate, ongoing social engineering operation also tied to North Korea. According to WLWT, the FBI blamed Pyongyang for the ‘FaceStealer’ campaign, which allegedly resulted in the theft of $400 million in cryptocurrency over the past 18 months.
Investigators stated that the FaceStealer scheme relies on an elaborate chain of cyberattacks, combining the hijacking of popular mobile messaging applications with the deployment of advanced deepfake video recordings to deceive targets. U.S. national security officials have repeatedly cautioned that Pyongyang relies heavily on such illicit cyber schemes to generate revenue for its regime, including funding its prohibited nuclear and ballistic weapons programs.