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Binance says 90% of losses from $6.3bn hack covered as FBI says North Korea behind attack

The Guardian Read the original

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The score shows how well the checked facts are backed by independent sources at the time of the check. It is not a verdict of absolute truth, and not a rating of the publisher.

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13 facts found in the article, 8 checked

Article published

Checked with claude-haiku-5-5 · Method 2026-10-10.

Verified facts

  1. Confirmed Binance announced on Sunday that it had begun a phased reopening of withdrawals after 2pm Singapore time.

    AI The AOL article reports that Binance said on Sunday that some withdrawals had resumed and would be rolled out in phases, which matches the core of the claim. The results do not mention the 2pm Singapore time detail, so that specific time could not be checked. This is a single report, and it may be repeating a wire or press source.

  2. Confirmed Binance was hit by a theft of about $6.3bn in cryptocurrency on Thursday.

    AI Euronews reports that Binance said on Thursday it had been hit by a major hack of around $6.3 billion in funds, and Wikipedia and Al Jazeera likewise describe about $6.3 billion in crypto stolen. The results do not give an exact date beyond the Thursday announcement, and several results may trace back to the same Binance statement.

  3. Confirmed Binance said in a post on X on Saturday that it had replenished 90% of the amount stolen.

    AI Reuters reports that Binance said on X on Saturday that it had covered 90% of the stolen funds, and The Globe and Mail says Binance said on Saturday it had covered 90% of the amount stolen. Reuters also says the X post followed an earlier 90% statement, so the exact timing of the first announcement is not fully clear, but the core claim is supported. The Reuters and Globe and Mail reports may both trace back to Binance's own statement.

  4. Confirmed The FBI said on Saturday that North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6bn in virtual assets from Binance, on or about October 29.

    AI The FBI's own alert states that North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance, on or about October 29, 2026, which matches the core of the claim. The results do not explicitly state the day of the week ('Saturday'), though the Al Jazeera and PBS reports, which cite the same FBI statement, are consistent with it.

  5. Confirmed The FBI said TraderTraitor actors were converting stolen assets into ethereum.

    AI The FBI's statement, quoted in multiple results, says it observed TraderTraitor actors converting stolen assets primarily into ethereum (ETH), matching the claim. The FBI primary alert (result 2) directly supports this; the news reports (results 1, 3, 4) repeat the same FBI statement.

  6. Confirmed Binance said it had set aside about $6.34bn of company funds to cover the losses.

    AI Several results state that Binance said it had set aside more than $6.34bn in company funds to cover losses from the hack, which matches the claim's core. The results appear to repeat Binance's own X posts and statements rather than independent evidence, and the exact date of the announcement (Friday vs. Saturday) differs slightly between sources, but that detail does not affect the claim.

  7. Confirmed Richard Teng, Binance's co-chief executive, said on Friday that the breach was a "complex attack" involving a compromised laptop and malicious software designed to delete evidence.

    AI Several results report that Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said on Friday the breach was a "complex attack" involving a compromised laptop and malware designed to delete evidence. Results 1 and 3 share nearly identical wording, likely from the same wire report, while result 4 independently describes Teng's Friday video statement on the self-destruct mechanism and additional breach points.

Could not verify

No independent source settled these either way. That doesn’t mean they are wrong.

  1. Unverified Binance said the money used to rebuy tokens came from its $1bn secure asset fund, part of its futures insurance fund and its own corporate treasury.

    AI The only search result is an unrelated Chinese-language daily cross-asset report that mentions Binance futures market data and brokerage account figures. It says nothing about Binance rebuying tokens or about funding from its SAFU fund, futures insurance fund, or corporate treasury, so the claim's core is not addressed.

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