Binance has fallen victim to the largest crypto theft and the world’s largest hack on record. Hackers stole about $6.3 billion in digital assets from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, on Thursday, October 29.
Binance estimates the total impact at around $6.3 billion, which makes it the largest crypto theft on record. The previous record was the $1.5 billion theft from the exchange Bybit in 2025.
Binance and its partners froze about $3 billion of the assets on blockchain networks. That includes $2.3 billion in USDT and USDC stablecoins. The attacker still appears to control a large share of the rest, according to TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics firm. Arkham Intelligence found that wallets linked to the hacker held more than $5.7 billion at one point, including nearly $1.5 billion in bitcoin and $900 million in ether.
How the attack happened
Binance said its initial investigation points to the laptop of a DevOps engineer. The compromised device allowed an unauthorised party to access a “service container” and submit unauthorised withdrawals. The company said it found “no evidence of any private key leaks from wallets.” Co-chief executive Richard Teng said on X that the attack was not a one-click action. He described it as a complex process. Binance has promised a detailed technical report when the investigation ends.
North Korea suspected
Several blockchain-tracing firms, including TRM Labs, Chainalysis and Pangolin Intelligence, link the theft to North Korean hackers. Chainalysis said it has “high confidence” in the link. TRM Labs and Chainalysis name the group as TraderTraitor, which investigators also blamed for the Bybit theft. Ari Redbord, TRM Labs’ global head of policy, called the Binance hack a “watershed moment” for the industry.
Binance has not confirmed who is responsible. It said it is working with law enforcement to identify the attackers and “bring them to justice.” North Korea has denied earlier hacking allegations. A Pangolin analyst told CNN that the hackers will likely use money laundering networks to cash out.
Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals on Friday, October 30, while it checks its systems. Co-chief executive Yi He said withdrawals should resume by Sunday, November 1. The exchange pledged to cover all losses. It said it will pay from company funds and an emergency assets fund, and that user funds are safe. Co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who remains the largest shareholder, said on X that he expects the exchange to cover user funds in full.
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Binance’s BNB token fell nearly 10 per cent, then recovered to trade 2.7 per cent higher. Bitcoin and ether traded about 2 to 3 per cent lower in Hong Kong on Friday. Binance held roughly $144 billion in assets before the hack, according to DefiLlama.
Kevin March, co-founder of the trading firm JPEG Trading, said, “This is unprecedented.” Aravind Srinivasan, who heads systematic over-the-counter trading at market maker GSR, told Reuters, “It’s the biggest hack in history.”
