Hackers steal $6.3 billion from Binance in world's biggest crypto heist - USA Today

The theft unfolded in approximately 20 minutes beginning late Thursday and bore similarities to previous large attacks blamed on North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis. Both firms expressed high confidence that North Korea's elite hacking unit was responsible for the breach.

Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply on the news, with Bitcoin hitting a six-week low of $76,368 and Ether dropping more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178. BNB, Binance's native token, was down 5% over the past 24 hours at $709.70.

Security Breach Details

Binance said user funds were safe and that it was working with partners to freeze affected assets, with about $3 billion located so far. The exchange expects to resume withdrawal services within the next 48 hours, though it did not specify the status of the remaining $3.3 billion.

An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of Binance's engineers, which allowed an attacker to gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorized withdrawals. Binance's security team is tracing the full attack path through the compromised computer.

Industry Response

Stablecoin issuers quickly moved to freeze stolen assets. Tether froze nearly $1.57 billion, Circle froze more than $800 million, and World Liberty Financial worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds. Binance co-founder Yi He reported that $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen, while Ripple froze roughly $200 million.

Markets reacted negatively, with shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global sliding 4.8% and those of bitcoin buyer MicroStrategy falling nearly 6% in extended US trading. Analysts warned the breach could further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralized exchanges.

Broader Implications

The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts, with TRM Labs reporting that attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks last year. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget reported roughly $350 million in crypto stolen from its platform.

Binance, which has 335 million registered users globally and held about $162.8 billion in assets under custody as of its 2025 annual report, operates a secure asset fund for users—a $1 billion reserve held entirely in bitcoin to protect user assets in cases of security breaches. Co-CEO Teng confirmed that "and company funds" will cover the losses.

Former Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles noted that Binance appears to have split its assets across multiple systems, ensuring a hack can only affect a portion of assets, but even so, "a single hack is a large loss." The security breach comes as crypto was already under pressure due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers.