How hard is it to recover the $6 billion stolen from Binance?

After hackers stole more than $6 billion from Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange announced it was working to recover the assets through a multi-pronged process involving coordination with law enforcement and tracking the movement of stolen funds. The attack, which took approximately 20 minutes, has been described by experts as the "largest bank robbery in human history."

Ari Redbord, a former federal prosecutor and global head of policy at TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence company tracking the stolen funds, attributed the attack to an elite hacking unit linked with North Korea known as "TraderTraitor." The funds were siphoned from internet-connected wallets on Binance's trading platform.

"The way a cryptocurrency exchange works is basically just like a bank. People put their funds in the bank, and those funds go onto wallets that are controlled by the exchange," Redbord explained. "What North Korea was able to do was breach the hot wallets where Binance was keeping all of those funds."

As it works to recover the stolen assets, Binance vowed in a social media post to cover the full losses using company funds. "We will pursue all available avenues to identify those responsible and hold them accountable," the company stated.

Recovery Process

Redbord called the effort to recover Binance customers' funds the "fastest and largest" he's ever seen. Within an hour after the attack, stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether froze $2.4 billion in assets. Ripple and World Liberty Financial also froze assets, according to TRM Labs.

Issuers of stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar — can block transfer of their tokens globally, speeding the recovery effort. A total of $3 billion in crypto assets have been frozen, though roughly $2.4 billion in stolen funds consisted of bitcoin and ether that cannot be frozen.

Binance's initial investigation suggested the incident may have involved a compromised laptop, with additional "points of breach" discovered in a subsequent probe. The cyberattackers are now likely laundering the stolen funds to evade detection by law enforcement.

Challenges Ahead

The best shot at recovering the remaining funds is if the thieves attempt to convert the crypto to regular currencies. The next phase involves working with law enforcement to move frozen funds into a wallet that North Korea cannot access, followed by a "seizure warrant" to transfer funds to a U.S. government account.

After seizure, Binance will need to pursue a civil forfeiture proceeding in court to recover the crypto assets. Roman Bieda, chief intelligence officer at Recoveris, warned that unrecovered funds could be used by North Korea to carry out illicit transactions with countries like Russia.

TraderTraitor also targeted Bybit in 2025, resulting in a $1.5 billion loss according to the FBI. Given the scale of the theft, the timeline for recovery remains uncertain. Bieda noted that recovering $10.5 million in crypto assets for a Swiss client took 14 months, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of such processes.

"The process remains unpredictable," Bieda said, highlighting the close coordination required between stakeholders. "Knowing whom to contact and reaching them before the assets move again can make all the difference, and this is really challenging."