North Korean Hackers Reportedly Use Meme Coins to Launder Binance Stolen Funds
Elliptic-linked reporting says six tokens helped route stolen Binance crypto, with NEAR playing a limited but identifiable role.
Elliptic-linked reporting says six tokens helped route stolen Binance crypto, with NEAR playing a limited but identifiable role. NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is trading at $3.60, up 0.6% since this brief published. This is an original TLT brief synthesising 4 outlets (Unchained, Protos, Crypto Economy, and others), plus live market data, as of Mon, 09 Nov 2026 19:30:05 UTC.
The findings illustrate how stolen digital assets can be dispersed through newly issued tokens across multiple blockchains, making cross-chain tracing central to identifying laundering flows.
- Elliptic traced about 117,000 NEAR, valued at roughly $430,000, through six tokens.
- Unchained and Protos connect the activity to North Korea-linked Binance theft.
- Reported theft estimates differ: Unchained cites about $6.3 billion; Protos cites $6.4 billion.
- NEAR stands at $3.58 after a 10.05% weekly decline.
Unchained and Protos agree that North Korea-linked hackers used newly created meme coins to help launder funds stolen from Binance, with both outlets identifying NEAR-based tokens as part of the route. Unchained reports that Elliptic traced roughly 117,000 NEAR, worth about $430,000, through six tokens associated with the launderers. The outlets differ slightly on the estimated scale of the underlying Binance theft: Unchained cites about $6.3 billion, while Protos reports $6.4 billion; Protos also emphasizes the use of TRON and Solana alongside NEAR.
- Binance Hackers Quickly Converted Stolen Stablecoins to Unfreezable Crypto
- FBI Links $6.3B Binance Hack to North Korean Group TraderTraitor
- THORChain Delays Laundering of Stolen Binance Funds: Chainalysis
- Binance Hackers Convert Stolen Solana to Bitcoin as Gate Freezes Accounts
- North Korean Hackers Automate $6.4B Crypto Laundering Across 11 Blockchains
- Arbitrum Security Council Moves Stolen Binance Funds, Governance Vote Pending
- North Korean Hackers Reportedly Use Meme Coins to Launder Binance Stolen Funds — this brief
Unchained, citing Elliptic, reported that investigators traced approximately 117,000 NEAR—valued at roughly $430,000—through six tokens created by the launderers. The identified activity represented a small portion of an estimated $6.3 billion stolen from Binance, according to that outlet’s summary of the Elliptic findings. Protos provided the broader cross-chain picture, reporting that North Korea-linked hackers behind the Binance theft used meme coins deployed on TRON, Solana, and NEAR to launder the stolen crypto. The report places the estimated theft at $6.4 billion, compared with the $6.3 billion figure cited by Unchained. The two accounts agree on the central mechanism: the perpetrators issued their own tokens and used them to move stolen Binance assets across supported networks. They also both identify NEAR-based tokens as one part of the laundering route. Their principal discrepancy is the headline value assigned to the original theft, while Protos gives greater prominence to the involvement of TRON and Solana.
Live data show NEAR trading at $3.58, down 0.64% over 24 hours and 10.05% over seven days, with a $4.69 billion market capitalization. DeFiLlama lists NEAR’s total value locked at $112.72 million, a 2.2% decline over seven days. These figures provide market context but do not quantify the reported laundering beyond the roughly $430,000 in NEAR identified by Elliptic.
The wider crypto market is also under pressure: total capitalization stands at $2.56 trillion, 
Bitcoin has fallen 1.30% over 24 hours, and the Fear & Greed index reads 29, indicating Fear. Further on-chain tracing of the six token deployments and the wallets receiving their proceeds would help establish the scale and persistence of the reported laundering activity.
Since this brief published about 2 hours ago, NEAR Protocol (NEAR) has moved from $3.58 to $3.60 — +0.56%.
The chart plots NEAR's price: grey is the move before this brief published, the vertical dashed line marks the moment it published, the horizontal dashed line is the price then, and the coloured area is the move since — from TLT's market data (daily resolution). It shows what happened after the news, not that the news caused it; many factors move prices. Not financial advice.
At today's peer-to-peer rate, 1 NEAR ≈ ₦4,978.26 (about $3.60), down 1.3% over 24 hours. The naira itself trades about 2.7% above the official rate on the P2P market, so a Nigerian buyer's effective cost differs from the headline dollar price.
Live market data
Current prices for the asset in this story — live, source-stamped, updated every 15 minutes.
Figures and sectors in this story, checked live against on-chain aggregators · November 9, 2026.
TLT reads these figures directly from on-chain aggregators (DeFiLlama, mempool.space) at build time — independent of what any outlet reported. Sector totals aggregate every protocol DeFiLlama tracks in that category. Values are live and will change.
North Korean Hackers Reportedly Use Meme Coins to Launder Bi — questions & answers
How much NEAR did Elliptic trace?
Elliptic traced about 117,000 NEAR, worth roughly $430,000, through six tokens launched by the launderers, according to Unchained.
Which blockchains were reportedly used?
Protos reports that the hackers used meme coins on TRON, Solana, and NEAR as part of the laundering process.
How large was the reported Binance theft?
Unchained cites approximately $6.3 billion, while Protos reports $6.4 billion for the underlying theft.
How much is 1 NEAR Protocol worth in naira today?
About ₦4,978.26 at the live peer-to-peer (P2P) USDT rate, which is what Nigerians typically trade at — equivalent to roughly $3.60. The naira price moves with both NEAR's US-dollar price and the USDT/NGN rate; use our NEAR Protocol in naira page for any amount.
Has NEAR Protocol's price moved since this brief was published?
NEAR is up 0.56% since this brief first published — trading at $3.60 now versus $3.58 at publication. TLT re-checks this figure against CoinGecko and Binance every 15 minutes.
Which outlets reported this story?
This is an original TLT brief that synthesises reporting from Unchained, Protos, Crypto Economy, Blockonomi, with the key figures cross-checked for agreement across them. It is not a copy of any one article — follow the source links above for the original reporting.
Original summary — not financial advice. This is an original TLT brief that summarises a development reported elsewhere and adds live market data for context; it is not the original article and reproduces no part of it. Follow the source link above for full details. Crypto is volatile and high-risk — always do your own research.