Daily brief
Regulatory · Global · Sat 14 Nov · 3 min read · By Roland Cinco
DOJ wins authority to seize USD1.2 billion from Binance theft
What happened
The US Department of Justice announced court authorisation on 12 November 2026 to seize or restrain more than USD1.2 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from Binance.
The assets form part of more than USD2.7 billion frozen by US authorities and private-sector partners following the theft of over USD6 billion from the exchange.
CNBC describes the assets as seized, while Yonhap reports court authorisation to seize or restrain them, a distinction that leaves the execution status unclear.
The FBI identified the alleged attackers as TraderTraitor, linked to North Korea's military, and authorities said the group continues laundering funds through bridges, mixers and exchanges.
Separately, the DOJ announced disruption of FaceStealer, a North Korean deepfake campaign that authorities said stole more than USD400 million in cryptocurrency over 18 months.
The FBI seized cloud-based infrastructure used in FaceStealer and more than 900 webcam videos of victims, according to the department's account reported by Yonhap.
Authorities also reported increasing targeting of open-source developers and maintainers, in what the department described as apparent attempts to enable broader software supply-chain attacks.
Why it matters
Sources: cnbc.com, coindesk.com, en.yna.co.kr
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