North Korea denies $6 billion Binance hack, calls US allegations ‘trite provocation’

North Korea on Tuesday brushed off US accusations that its hackers stole more than $6 billion worth of cryptocurrency from Binance, describing the allegation as “a trite provocation” and claiming Washington was trying to tarnish its image.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticised the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) findings, calling them “absurd rhetoric” and accusing the United States of repeatedly linking Pyongyang to international cybercrime.

“This is not the first time that the US has tried to spread misunderstanding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the international community and to recklessly link the DPRK with so-called ‘cybercrime’ even when they occur on an international scale,” she said.

The theft was tied to a North Korean hacking group called Trader Traitor, according to the FBI. The hacking group is also known to investigators to be responsible for a $1.5 billion attack on another cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit, last year, The Associated Press reported.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced that hackers have stolen more than $6 billion in what could be the world’s largest cryptocurrency heist.

North Korea has consistently denied responsibility for any cyberattacks but was connected by investigators to a number of such major attacks.