The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has suffered a $6.3 billion security breach, in what analysts have described as the biggest cryptocurrency theft in history.
The attack, which has been linked with high confidence to North Korea by US blockchain intelligence firms, triggered a sell-off in cryptocurrency markets and renewed concerns about the security of digital assets.
Binance said customers’ funds were safe and pledged to cover all losses. The exchange also suspended withdrawals while investigating the incident.
According to Reuters, the attack unfolded late on Thursday, with most of the stolen assets transferred to hacker-controlled wallets within approximately 20 minutes.
US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis attributed the attack to North Korea, citing similarities with previous cyberattacks linked to the country.
TRM Labs identified the suspected perpetrators as TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit also linked to the $1.5 billion theft from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in 2025.
Both firms said they had a high level of confidence in their assessment.
Binance Hack: How the Attack Happened
Binance’s preliminary investigation suggested that the breach may have originated from a compromised laptop belonging to one of its engineers.
The attackers allegedly used access gained through the compromised computer to enter one of the exchange’s systems and initiate unauthorised withdrawals.
“Our security team is tracing the full attack path through the compromised computer which may be the entry point of the incident,” Binance said.
Mark Karpeles, former chief executive of the collapsed Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox, suggested that the attackers may have gained access to private keys belonging to at least two Binance wallets.
He noted that Binance’s practice of distributing assets across multiple systems could limit the damage from individual security breaches, although the latest incident demonstrated the potential scale of such attacks.
Binance Promises to Cover $6.3bn Losses
Binance said it had located approximately $3 billion of the affected assets through its recovery efforts and cooperation with industry partners.
The exchange did not provide an update on the remaining $3.3 billion.
Co-CEO Richard Teng reassured customers that their money was safe and promised that the company would absorb the losses.
“Your money is safe and we’re covering every loss,” Teng said in a post on X.
He added that the company’s investigation had not attributed responsibility to any individual.
Binance also said it expected withdrawal services to resume within 48 hours.
Tether, Circle Freeze Stolen Cryptocurrency
Several cryptocurrency companies moved to restrict access to assets linked to the breach.
Tether reportedly froze nearly $1.57 billion in affected assets, while Circle froze more than $800 million.
World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture backed by US President Donald Trump, also said it worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds connected to the incident.
Binance co-founder Yi He disclosed that approximately $27 million in stablecoins and another $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.
Cryptocurrency firm Ripple also froze approximately $200 million in funds, according to Yi.
The recovery efforts brought the amount of affected assets located or frozen to approximately $3 billion, although the precise breakdown varied across the companies involved.
Crypto Prices Fall After Binance Hack
The security breach sent shockwaves through cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin and other major digital assets recording significant losses.
Bitcoin fell to a six-week low of $76,368, while Ethereum dropped more than 3 per cent to $2,178, its lowest level in two months, before prices stabilised.
BNB, the cryptocurrency associated with Binance, also declined by 5 per cent to $709.70.
The impact extended to publicly traded companies linked to the cryptocurrency industry.
Shares in Coinbase Global fell 4.8 per cent, while those of Strategy, a major Bitcoin investor, dropped nearly 6 per cent in extended US trading.
Aravind Srinivasan of market maker GSR described the incident as the biggest hack in history.
Tim Sun, senior researcher at Hong Kong-based HashKey Group, warned that the breach could further weaken investor confidence.
“It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralised exchanges,” Sun said.
Binance’s $1bn Protection Fund Exceeded
Binance had approximately 335 million registered users globally and held about $162.8 billion in customer assets as of its 2025 annual report.
The exchange operates a Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a reserve valued at $1 billion and held entirely in Bitcoin to protect customers against security breaches.
However, the estimated $6.3 billion impact of the latest incident is more than six times the value of the protection fund.
Binance’s co-CEO Richard Teng said the exchange would use the fund alongside company resources to cover the losses.
The incident adds to a growing list of major cryptocurrency thefts.
According to TRM Labs, criminals stole approximately $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks in 2025.
In September 2026, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget also reported that approximately $350 million in digital assets had been stolen from its platform. Reuters +1
What the Binance Hack Means for Cryptocurrency Investors
The Binance breach has renewed concerns about the vulnerability of centralised cryptocurrency exchanges, particularly the security of digital assets held in online wallets.
Although Binance has promised to cover customer losses, the incident could influence how investors assess the risks associated with storing cryptocurrencies on trading platforms.
The investigation into the breach and efforts to recover the remaining assets are expected to determine the full financial and security implications of the attack.
