Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (창펑 자오), also known as CZ, pointed to the response by U.S. investigative agencies as a reason bitcoin did not fall further after a $6.3 billion security breach at Binance.

On Nov. 1, local time, blockchain media outlet U.Today reported that Zhao said the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Secret Service supported tracking and freezing funds during the response to the incident.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Nov. 1, Zhao said U.S. law enforcement agencies provided significant help in the incident. He said they were involved in tracking the flow of stolen funds and locking up some of the money. Zhao said this also helped prevent a steeper drop in bitcoin prices. He wrote that a single tweet could not fully express his gratitude and that much of the credit for why bitcoin did not fall further goes to those agencies.

The remarks came shortly after the FBI officially identified a North Korean hacking group as behind the Binance hack. In a notice on Oct. 31, the FBI said North Korea stole more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance around Oct. 29. Investigators named "TraderTraitor" as the specific culprit. The group is a North Korean cybercrime organisation known to have been involved in large-scale cryptocurrency theft in the past.

Investigators said they also tracked a flow in which hackers mainly converted stolen cryptocurrency into ether. They warned that the assets could be further laundered through DeFi protocols and instant exchange services. U.S. authorities accordingly asked cryptocurrency businesses and infrastructure operators to block transactions linked to addresses used by the hackers.

Those asked to block transactions included THORNode operators, remote procedure call node operators, instant exchange services, blockchain analytics firms and DeFi platforms. The FBI also released a list of cryptocurrency addresses used by the hackers to help the industry detect and block suspicious transactions.

The market impact was immediate. After news of the Binance security breach, bitcoin fell below $77,000 and at one point slipped to around $76,000, marking the lowest level in recent weeks. Major cryptocurrencies including ether, XRP, Solana and BNB also plunged.

Bitcoin later recouped some of its losses and stabilised around $78,000 in early trading on Nov. 1. In those moves, investigators' tracking of funds and requests to block addresses emerged as key variables in the case, as they were seen as affecting the pace at which hackers could cash out and reducing additional selling pressure. U.S. authorities are focusing on cutting off laundering routes for stolen funds early through cooperation across the industry.

US Law Enforcement agencies (FBI, USSS, IRS and more) provided vital help in this incident, including tracking, freezing, etc. A tweet can’t fully express our gratitude. Many crypto bros may not realize, a lot of the "why bitcoin didn't drop more?" credit goes to them.