Crypto
Binance Suspends Withdrawals After Record $6.3 Billion Hack as Bitcoin and BNB Slide
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The world's largest crypto exchange says it will cover all losses as investigators link the theft to North Korea.
By Emmanuel Cruz ·
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, suspended withdrawals after an attack on Thursday that it estimates affected about $6.3 billion in assets, the biggest theft the crypto industry has recorded [1][2]. The breach sent major tokens lower overnight, with the exchange's own BNB token taking the steepest hit among large cryptocurrencies.
Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs said the attacker moved roughly $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets across ten blockchains, most of it within about 20 minutes starting at 20:05 UTC on Thursday [3]. TRM described the haul as about four times the size of the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, which had held the previous record [3]. Chainalysis put the value at around $5.9 billion at the time of the theft, according to CoinDesk, and the losses equal about 4% of the roughly $144 billion Binance held before the attack, based on DefiLlama data [1].
Binance said its preliminary investigation points to a compromised laptop belonging to one of its engineers, which the attacker allegedly used to reach internal systems and submit unauthorized withdrawals [1][2]. The exchange said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked [2]. TRM Labs offered a somewhat different assessment, saying the attacker appears to have compromised the hot wallet signing infrastructure, the systems that approve outgoing transfers [3].
Several investigators have pointed to North Korea. TRM Labs attributed the attack with high confidence to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit that the FBI had previously linked to the Bybit theft [3]. CoinDesk reported that Blockaid and the independent investigator ZachXBT also pointed to North Korean hackers [1].
Part of the stolen money has already been locked down. Binance said it worked with blockchain partners to freeze about $3 billion in affected assets [2]. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the stablecoin issuer froze more than $1.5 billion in USDT, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said Circle froze more than $800 million in USDC [1][2]. TRM Labs said the attacker still controlled about $2.4 billion, including more than 420,000 ether and 18,270 bitcoin, and had sold some stablecoins at steep discounts and borrowed against others to stay ahead of the freezes [3].
Binance said it would cover all losses through its Secure Asset Fund for Users, a reserve that holds roughly $1 billion in bitcoin, along with other company funds, and that it would publish an updated proof of reserves once remediation is complete [1][2]. "User funds are safe," the exchange said [2]. Co-CEO Yi He said on X that Binance would absorb the losses, according to CoinDesk [1].
Markets reacted quickly. Bitcoin fell 4.8% on Thursday to below $77,000, while ether dropped 5.7% and BNB lost 8%, CoinDesk reported [1]. By early Friday, bitcoin was down about 4.5% and BNB was off more than 7%, according to Forbes [2]. The selloff came on top of the pressure crypto was already under from this week's slide in technology stocks.
For the industry, the scale of the theft revives questions about how centralized exchanges secure the hot wallets used for daily withdrawals, and it adds to a string of large hacks this year. Forbes noted that Bitget lost about $388 million in a September breach [2].
What to watch next: when Binance reopens withdrawals and whether it sees heavy outflows once it does, the updated proof of reserves it has promised, whether more of the stolen funds can be frozen as they move through bridges and over-the-counter brokers, and any response from regulators or law enforcement [2][3].
Sources:
[1] CoinDesk, "Binance loses over $6 billion in the largest crypto hack to date", October 29, 2026. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets
[2] Forbes, "Binance Says $6.3 Billion Impacted In Record Crypto Hack—Suspends Withdrawals", October 30, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/10/30/binance-says-63-billion-impacted-in-record-crypto-hack-suspends-withdrawals/
[3] TRM Labs, "North Korea Steals USD 6.36 Billion From Binance in the Largest Hack in History", October 29, 2026. https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/north-korea-steals-usd-6-36-billion-from-binance-in-the-largest-hack-in-history
This article was produced with AI assistance. It is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. StockVolt and its authors may hold positions in securities mentioned.