Binance Loses About $6.3 Billion in Record Crypto Theft as Analysts Point to North Korea - The SOFX Report
Binance suffered a massive $6.3 billion cryptocurrency theft on October 29, the largest crypto heist on record, with analysts linking the attack to North Korean hackers.
An attacker drained approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance's internet-connected wallets on October 29, according to the exchange's estimate. This breach marks the largest crypto theft on record, with two U.S. blockchain intelligence firms, TRM Labs and Chainalysis, linking the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit.
TRM reported that roughly $6.36 billion left the exchange across 10 blockchains, with most of the transfer occurring within about 20 minutes. Chainalysis estimated the loss at approximately $5.9 billion at the time of the theft—nearly four times the $1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit exchange in February 2025, which the FBI also attributed to North Korea.
Breach Method
Binance's initial investigation revealed that the breach originated from a hacked laptop belonging to one of its DevOps engineers. This compromise allowed the attacker to access a service container and push through unauthorized withdrawals. While the company found no evidence of wallet private key leaks initially, subsequent reviews identified additional points of entry.
The attack looked like a compromise of signing infrastructure rather than a stolen key, and called it 'very, very similar' to the Bybit case.
Response and Impact
Following the breach, Binance froze about $3 billion of the stolen assets with assistance from partners. Tether froze more than $1.57 billion in its USDT stablecoin, while Circle froze over $800 million in USDC. The Secret Service confirmed that private-sector partners, including Circle, are helping trace and recover the funds.
Co-CEO Richard Teng assured customers that their assets remained safe and that losses would be covered by Binance's corporate holdings. The company has allocated $5 billion for the losses and is purchasing an additional $1.34 billion in cryptocurrency to cover the remainder. Founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty in 2023 to money laundering charges but was pardoned in 2025, also affirmed that user funds were secure.
The market reacted negatively to the news, with Bitcoin dropping more than 5% to approximately $77,000 and Binance's BNB token declining about 8%. This incident follows a September attack on Bitget, which lost $387.5 million to North Korean hackers, highlighting Pyongyang's continued use of crypto theft to circumvent international sanctions and fund its economy and weapons programs.
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