Binance says $6.3bn stolen in biggest crypto heist in history: What we know - Al Jazeera
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has revealed hackers stole approximately $6.3bn in what appears to be the largest crypto heist in history.
The company, co-founded by Chinese-born Canadian billionaire Changpeng Zhao, suspended all deposits and withdrawals following the breach. In a statement to Al Jazeera, Binance confirmed user funds remain safe and pledged to cover all losses from the unprecedented attack.
Blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have traced the theft, which unfolded across approximately 20 minutes on Thursday. The attackers moved about $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets across 10 different blockchains, according to TRM's assessment.
This incident dwarfs the previous record of $1.5bn stolen from Bybit exchange in February 2025. Binance has since frozen approximately $3bn of the stolen assets, including more than $2.3bn with stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle.
North Korean hackers suspected
Two US blockchain analysis firms have attributed the attack to North Korean hackers. TRM reported with 'high confidence' that TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit linked to the Lazarus Group, carried out the heist.
The Lazarus Group, sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2019, primarily targets entities in South Korea for espionage and financial gain. The FBI previously blamed the same unit for the Bybit hack in 2025.
Binance has been more cautious in its assessment, with co-CEO Richard Teng stating the investigation has not yet attributed responsibility to any specific group. The company initially suggested the breach may have started with a hacked engineer's laptop but later identified 'additional points of breach'.
Market impact and response
The hack sent shockwaves through the crypto market, with Bitcoin dropping to a six-week low of $76,368 and Ethereum falling more than 3% to $2,178. Shares in competitor Coinbase, which confirmed it was unaffected, declined 4.8%.
The stolen amount exceeds six times Binance's $1bn emergency fund, the Secure Asset Fund for Users, established in 2018. Teng confirmed the company will use its funds to cover all losses, though the $6.3bn figure 'may continue to increase' as more assets are traced.
The incident highlights vulnerabilities in centralized exchanges, which hold users' assets on their behalf. Experts note that insurance offers limited protection against crypto theft, with most policies excluding such losses. Binance said it was coordinating with law enforcement and expected to resume withdrawals within 45 hours.
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