A court has finally put a hold on some of the stolen $6.3 billion!
On October 29, Binance was hacked for about $6.34 billion. I keep all my crypto on Binance, so I’ve been following this closely. On November 12, there was the first real breakthrough: the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had obtained court authorization to seize or restrict the transfer of more than $1.2 billion in stolen funds.
Let’s add it all up: the total frozen through joint efforts by the government and organizations like Tether and Circle has now exceeded $2.7 billion. That means more than 40% of the stolen money can no longer be moved. And the hackers? According to tracking by Onchain Lens, over the past two or three days they’ve continued laundering funds through THORChain and Chainflip, moving about $891 million out. They’re laundering while authorities freeze funds—and the amount frozen is three times what’s been laundered out.
One distinction needs to be clear: a freeze and a court seizure aren’t the same thing. A seizure is another step taken through the court process. But neither means the money has been recovered—the forfeiture process still has to be completed. That $1.2 billion is sitting in case files for now, not back on the exchange.
The same announcement also revealed the takedown of a scam operation: the fake video-conference scheme FaceStealer. The hackers stole victims’ accounts, arranged fake meetings with people they knew, used AI-generated fake video to impersonate them, then claimed there was an audio problem and tricked victims into downloading “repair” software. Over 18 months, they scammed more than $400 million. The FBI seized more than 900 webcam videos of victims this time—the footage the scammers planned to use to impersonate their next batch of victims.
The most practical takeaway for ordinary users is this: on November 12, Binance said all affected assets had been fully replenished with company funds. Our money is fine; what remains is the next chapter in the story of those stolen funds.
Two weeks ago, everyone was asking, “Can the money still be recovered?” Now the question has changed: Can the hackers launder it faster, or can the courts freeze it faster? At least in this round, freezing is temporarily ahead.
$BTC $BNB
On October 29, Binance was hacked for about $6.34 billion. I keep all my crypto on Binance, so I’ve been following this closely. On November 12, there was the first real breakthrough: the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had obtained court authorization to seize or restrict the transfer of more than $1.2 billion in stolen funds.
Let’s add it all up: the total frozen through joint efforts by the government and organizations like Tether and Circle has now exceeded $2.7 billion. That means more than 40% of the stolen money can no longer be moved. And the hackers? According to tracking by Onchain Lens, over the past two or three days they’ve continued laundering funds through THORChain and Chainflip, moving about $891 million out. They’re laundering while authorities freeze funds—and the amount frozen is three times what’s been laundered out.
One distinction needs to be clear: a freeze and a court seizure aren’t the same thing. A seizure is another step taken through the court process. But neither means the money has been recovered—the forfeiture process still has to be completed. That $1.2 billion is sitting in case files for now, not back on the exchange.
The same announcement also revealed the takedown of a scam operation: the fake video-conference scheme FaceStealer. The hackers stole victims’ accounts, arranged fake meetings with people they knew, used AI-generated fake video to impersonate them, then claimed there was an audio problem and tricked victims into downloading “repair” software. Over 18 months, they scammed more than $400 million. The FBI seized more than 900 webcam videos of victims this time—the footage the scammers planned to use to impersonate their next batch of victims.
The most practical takeaway for ordinary users is this: on November 12, Binance said all affected assets had been fully replenished with company funds. Our money is fine; what remains is the next chapter in the story of those stolen funds.
Two weeks ago, everyone was asking, “Can the money still be recovered?” Now the question has changed: Can the hackers launder it faster, or can the courts freeze it faster? At least in this round, freezing is temporarily ahead.
$BTC $BNB
