Binance hit by record $6.3bn cryptocurrency hack
Binance says $6.3bn (£4.7bn) in digital assets was affected by what has been described as the largest cryptocurrency hack on record, eclipsing the $1.5bn attack on Bybit in 2025. Preliminary checks suggest an engineer’s compromised laptop enabled unauthorised withdrawals. The exchange has promised to cover all losses and says roughly half of the affected assets have been frozen with help from other platforms.
TRM Labs and Chainalysis attributed the attack with high confidence to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit, citing similarities with earlier incidents including the Bybit breach. Binance has not confirmed that link but says it is working with law enforcement to identify those responsible. The attacker still controls a substantial amount, leaving tracing and recovery efforts unfinished.
Withdrawals from Binance.com have been suspended while its systems are checked, although Binance.US says it was unaffected. Tether froze about $1.6bn linked to the incident and Circle more than $800m, while World Liberty Financial also assisted in freezing funds. Coinbase reported no impact. Binance, which says it has more than 300 million registered users and held over $160bn in custody in 2024, faced an immediate market reaction: Bitcoin fell more than 4%, while Ethereum and Solana also dropped sharply.
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