Binance says $6.3bn stolen in suspected biggest crypto heist ever
Binance says about $6.3bn was stolen in a security incident, the biggest crypto heist on record, and has suspended withdrawals as Bitcoin fell 5 per cent.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance disclosed that approximately $6.3 billion in funds were stolen in a "security incident," potentially the largest crypto heist in history. The world's largest crypto exchange announced on Thursday that it had suspended all deposits and withdrawals, freezing around $3 billion in funds after the alleged hacking.
Binance stated that an initial investigation indicated a hacker had gained unauthorized access to an engineer's compromised laptop, allowing unauthorized transactions. The company assured users that all losses would be covered and funds were "safe." Binance stated that its teams were working around the clock to resolve the issue safely and thoroughly, collaborating closely with law enforcement to identify the criminals and bring them to justice.
They also promised to release a detailed technical post-mortem once investigations were complete. A blockchain intelligence firm, TRM, assessed with "high confidence" that the attack was carried out by North Korea's hacking unit TraderTraitor, basing this on robust intelligence from both on and off-chain sources. Binance's founder and largest shareholder, Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as CEO in 2023, confirmed the exchange had been hacked, emphasizing that he expected all user funds to be fully covered.
Bitcoin's price dropped around 5 percent following the incident, falling below $77,000. The attack on Binance, one of the largest centralized exchanges, could potentially shake confidence in many retail investors, affecting the prices of crypto assets. Sean Foley, a crypto markets expert at Macquarie University in Sydney, highlighted the risks of centralized exchanges and suggested more traders might opt for decentralized alternatives.
The hacking is reportedly the largest-ever theft of crypto assets, surpassing the $1.5 billion crypto heist carried out by the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group in 2025. In 2025, cybercriminals stole $2.87 billion in crypto assets in nearly 150 hacking incidents, according to the 2026 Crypto Crime Report by market intelligence firm TRM.
Binance, established in China by Zhao in 2017, manages about $155 billion in assets, more than any other exchange, per CoinMarketCap.
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