Trump says he will review record $6.3 billion Binance hack
President Donald Trump says he will review the Binance hack, described as the largest crypto theft on record, after North Korea-linked allegedly drained $6.3 billion in digital assets.
The breach unfolded rapidly, starting around 20:05 UTC on October 29, 2026, and lasting approximately 20 minutes. It affected Binance hot wallets across multiple blockchains, with the investigation pointing to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer as the entry point.
Scale of the theft
The $6.3 billion stolen dwarfs the previous record set by the Bybit hack in 2025, which involved $1.5 billion in losses. This incident represents more than four times that amount, making it unprecedented in the cryptocurrency industry.
Exchange response
Binance halted all withdrawals immediately upon identifying the breach. The exchange will use its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and corporate treasury to cover losses, with over $6.34 billion set aside for the cleanup effort.
Around $3 billion in assets, primarily stablecoins, have been frozen by issuers and partners. World Liberty Financial is assisting in freezing associated funds.
National security concern
Trump's involvement highlights the national security implications of the hack. The North Korean attribution explains the heightened interest, as a state-linked group allegedly extracting billions from a major exchange transcends consumer protection.
Crypto prices reacted negatively to the news, reflecting market concern about the incident's broader implications.
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