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Binance Reports $6.3 Billion Crypto Theft
· Confirmed
In Short: Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reported a theft of over $6.3 billion in digital assets.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reported a theft of over $6.3 billion in digital assets on October 29, 2026. The incident is being investigated as the largest crypto theft in history.
Blockchain analysts and security firms have linked the attack to a North Korean hacking unit, suggesting a sophisticated cyber operation.
According to TRM Labs, attackers moved approximately $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets across 10 blockchains within about 20 minutes.
Binance CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao stated, 'As a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered.' The company has also suspended deposits and withdrawals for security checks.
Binance said it worked with blockchain partners to freeze roughly $3 billion in affected assets, leaving about $3.36 billion still at large.
The exchange's preliminary investigation pointed to a potentially compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, which allowed the attacker to gain access to an internal service and submit unauthorized withdrawals.
Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CEO of Chainalysis, said the attack was likely carried out by the TraderTraitor group, known for previous North Korea-linked heists.
Binance is working closely with law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of the criminals and bring them to justice.
Analysts warn that the incident could shake faith in cryptocurrency exchanges and the broader crypto market.
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported that stablecoin issuers froze about 44% of the stolen money, leaving more than half of the largest crypto theft on record outside anyone’s reach.
What this adds
The incident is being investigated as the largest crypto theft in history, surpassing previous records.
Binance has not provided specific details on how the breach occurred beyond the compromised laptop.
Background
The exchange has suspended all deposits and withdrawals and is working with law enforcement to trace and recover the stolen assets.
Cryptocurrency giant Binance said Thursday that $6.3 billion of digital assets were impacted by what it described as the largest hack in history.
What's confirmed
- Blockchain analysts said a North Korean hacking unit was likely behind the theft of more than $6 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.
- Zhao, who founded the Binance platform in 2017, said "as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."
- "working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of the criminals and bring them to justice."
- Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CEO of blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, also said the Binance attack was likely carried out by TraderTraitor.
- "We make this judgment with high confidence," TRM said in a report published Thursday.
- "Several features of this attack match earlier North Korea-linked heists, including the Bybit hack," the firm said.
What's still developing
- "Rest assured that user funds are completely safe," a company spokesperson said.
- Cryptocurrency firms and investigators are racing to freeze and track down billions of dollars of stolen digital cash following what appears to be the largest crypto heist of all time.
- New York (TIP): Hackers have made off with an estimated $6.3 billion in a suspected cyber heist targeting Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
- The cryprocurrency exchange Binance is investigating a suspected hack after billions of dollars moved from wallets associated with the exchange on October 29, 2026.
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- A former CIA official who was caught hoarding $40 million worth of gold bars allegedly created a “fake” classified intelligence program that US federal investigators say was used to channel government funds for personal gain, according to media reports.
- According to blockchain data, the first signs of trouble emerged at 20:20 UTC, when a wallet labeled "Binance 14" was delegated via a relatively new Ethereum feature known as EIP-7702 to an outside smart contract.