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North Korea’s Lazarus Group Linked to Alleged $6.3 Billion Binance Hack

North Korea’s Lazarus Group Linked to Alleged $6.3 Billion Binance Hack

Blockchain investigators identified TraderTraitor as a suspected perpetrator, citing transactions across 10 networks and a targeted Ethereum wallet.

Written by Rahul Dhingra, Edited by Rohan Pal | Updated: 30 October 2026 19:30 IST

North Korea’s Lazarus Group Linked to Alleged $6.3 Billion Binance Hack

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Max Bender

Blockaid identified a suspicious Ethereum transaction involving 50 EIP-7702 authorisations

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Highlights

TRM Labs linked the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group.
Investigators tracked transfers across 10 blockchain networks.
Blockaid identified a suspicious authorisation targeting Binance 14.

North Korea's Lazarus Group has been named as the perpetrators behind the Binance attack by blockchain investigators after a theft of $6.3 billion (roughly Rs. 59,824.80 crore) was carried out against the cryptocurrency exchange on October 29. Based on TRM Labs, its researchers have linked the incident to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group that is part of Lazarus, with great certainty. In a separate study by blockchain investigator ZachXBT, Lazarus has been identified as the probable attacker, though Binance has yet to confirm the same.

Investigators Trace Billions in Transfers Across Multiple Blockchain Networks

According to Ido Ben-Natan, co-founder and CEO of the blockchain security company Blockaid, the attack was larger than any previous cryptocurrency theft. “This is the biggest crypto hack in history. Our analysis shows at least $3.5 billion (roughly Rs. 33,236 crore) moved out of Binance hot wallets on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism and Avalanche in under an hour, more than double the Bybit theft in February 2025.” The person added that more transactions involving Bitcoin and Tron have been discovered by the authorities, as his group still tracks the stolen funds.

BREAKING: Arbitrum Security Council has executed a transaction to freeze ~$30.5M from the Binance Exploit. Thanks to all other signers involved. Exploiter address 0x3E2bf1ac6bf0934BBba6456C341c2EcbCED632d5 Trsanction hash: 0xb69c81774f507d46ce776aeaed8b4d31df96dd66ce6fd05073481011835355d6
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 30, 2026

On the other hand, tracking website Onchain Lens has also reported that the hacker had transferred 17,260 ETH, with an approximate value of $38.82 million (roughly Rs. 368.38 crore), into a new wallet, following fears of money laundering through Tornado Cash or any other crypto mixer. According to the tracker, the hacker still possesses more than 480,720 ETH, having a value of $1.08 billion (roughly Rs. 10,255.68 crore), that cannot be frozen by the token issuer. The new wallet was found to be 0x03b0eE5d82990cFF1bDa48651AC3e436d1a020ea.

The investigation by TRM showed how around $6.36 billion (roughly Rs. 60,394.56 crore) was transferred from the Binance-controlled wallets in 10 different blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Tron, Solana, and the XRP Ledger.

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A major part of the stolen money was transferred within 20 minutes, starting at 20:05 UTC, with $3.79 billion (roughly Rs. 35,989.84 crore) being transferred on Ethereum, $1.47 billion (roughly Rs. 13,959.12 crore) on Bitcoin, and $628 million (roughly Rs. 596.35 crore) on Tron.

The investigators also found out that 233.46 million XRP, valued at close to $296 million (roughly Rs. 281.08 crore), had been moved from the Binance wallets before the Ethereum hack started.

As part of the technical analysis, Blockaid discovered a suspicious transaction on the Ethereum blockchain, including 50 EIP-7702 authorisations aimed at the popular hot wallet, Binance 14. EIP-7702 is a mechanism for giving the ability to execute smart contract code in the name of an Ethereum wallet. In this case, the attacker made sure that the authorisation was successful by using 50 sequential transaction counters, which maximised the probability of matching the current wallet's transaction counter. One authorisation was successful in this case, allowing a malicious contract to transfer assets from the wallet.

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The attacker managed to steal about $2.5 billion (roughly Rs. 23,740 crore) from Binance 14, including 167,464 ETH and more than 1.6 billion USDT. The subsequent thefts targeted the newly obtained funds. It was discovered that other Binance wallets performed regular signed transactions in multiple chains. The attackers could have possibly obtained access to the Binance transaction signing process.

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Further reading: binance hack, Crypto Scams, Crypto Frauds

Rahul Dhingra

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Rahul Dhingra is a crypto writer at Gadgets 360, where he covers the exciting world of Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Defi and Web3. Before joining Gadgets 360, he worked as a content specialist for a European-based Crypto Exchange. Rahul loves storytelling, not just through the written word but also through the visual medium. Beyond his professional life, Rahul is a sports fanatic. Whether it’s cricket or football, his passion for the game is contagious. More