KEY POINTS
- A US court has authorized the seizure or restraint of more than $1.2 billion linked to the October Binance theft, the DOJ said on Nov. 12.
- The covered assets are part of more than $2.7 billion frozen by government and private-sector efforts.
- The DOJ gave no forfeiture timetable and did not say who would receive the recovered funds.
US authorities have obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion in funds stolen from Binance, according to CryptoSlate. The Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed the step on Nov. 12, describing it as progress in the effort to recover assets taken in the October theft.
The DOJ did not say that forfeiture has been completed, and it gave no timetable for returning any money. The announcement also does not explain how the covered amount divides between assets that have been seized and those that have only been restrained.
The $1.2 billion sits within a larger pool of more than $2.7 billion that has been frozen through combined efforts by the US government and private companies. The two numbers measure different things: the larger one reflects the total freezing activity, while the smaller one is the portion for which the DOJ reports seizure or restraint authority.
The DOJ attributes the theft of more than $6 billion, which it dates to on or about Oct. 29, to North Korean military actors known as TraderTraitor. It said work to trace, freeze, seize and forfeit the stolen assets is continuing, while the attackers keep laundering funds through cryptocurrency bridges, mixers and exchanges.
Binance addressed the question of losses earlier. In its Nov. 3 incident report, the exchange said it would absorb the financial impact of the theft and had set aside more than 100% of the amount it would need to cover the loss.
The distinction between securing assets and compensating victims is central to the case. Under the DOJ's general guidance on compensation from forfeited assets, the government must first identify, seize and forfeit property before any remission can take place.
For now, the court authorization defines the scope of legal action over part of the frozen funds, rather than proving that the whole amount is in government hands. The Nov. 12 announcement leaves open how much will ultimately be forfeited, who will receive it and when any return might happen.
