DOJ Gets Court Authority to Seize $1.2B in North Korean Stolen Crypto

seize $1.2 billion — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday it has obtained court authority to seize or restrain over $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from Binance by North Korean military hackers, part of a broader freeze exceeding $2.7 billion.

The DOJ stated that on or about October 29, North Korean actors, referred to by the FBI as TraderTraitor, stole more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said the department and its partners “immediately halted about half of this historic breach” by freezing stolen assets before they moved beyond law enforcement reach.

The $1.2 billion figure represents funds the DOJ now has court authorization to seize or restrain, a legal step toward forfeiture. This amount is part of the roughly $2.85 billion Binance reported as frozen or intercepted on November 3. Binance has covered the losses from the breach using company funds, including its Secure Asset Fund for Users.

Separately, the FBI announced the seizure of infrastructure used in a deepfake social engineering campaign called FaceStealer, which has resulted in over $400 million in crypto thefts over 18 months. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General M. Scott Proctor linked both actions, stating North Korea’s government “bankrolls its rogue regime and illicit weapons program through cryptocurrency theft.”