Binance reports $6.3bn stolen in what officials call the largest crypto heist ever

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced that over $6.3 billion in digital assets were stolen in a security breach that unfolded in roughly 20 minutes on 30 October 2026. The incident, described by the company as the biggest crypto theft in history, led Binance to suspend all deposits and withdrawals while it works to recover the assets. An initial investigation indicated that the attackers accessed an engineer’s compromised laptop, enabling unauthorised transactions from the exchange’s hot‑wallets.

Binance said it would cover the full amount of user losses using its protection fund, a $1 billion bitcoin reserve and additional company resources. The exchange also reported that about $3 billion of the stolen funds had been frozen pending further investigation. Binance’s co‑chief executive Richard Teng warned that the attack involved multiple points of breach, not a single individual, and that the perpetrators exploited an Ethereum protocol mechanism (EIP‑7702) and a self‑destruct feature to erase traces.

Background

The breach was first reported by Binance in a statement to Al Jazeera, with founder and largest shareholder Changpeng Zhao confirming the hack. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, whose global head of policy Ari Redbord previously served as a federal prosecutor, quickly attributed the attack to a North Korean hacking unit known as “TraderTraitor”, linked to the Lazarus Group. TRM’s analysis, supported by other security firms, suggested the attackers had prepared the operation for at least 36 hours, funding an operator wallet and pre‑signing transaction authorisations before the 20‑minute window when the theft occurred. The US Secret Service confirmed it was working with private‑sector partners to identify, freeze, trace and recover the stolen assets.

Why it matters

The theft represents a significant financial loss, equivalent to more than $6 billion, and has immediate repercussions for Binance’s millions of users, whose funds were held in the compromised wallets. The rapid decline in Bitcoin’s price—about 5 percent, dropping below $77,000—illustrates broader market volatility triggered by the incident. Security experts, including Redbord, have framed the heist as a global security issue, noting that proceeds could fund North Korean weapons programmes. The scale of the loss also raises concerns for the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem, highlighting vulnerabilities in hot‑wallet management and the need for stronger regulatory oversight.

What happens next

Binance has begun a multi‑pronged recovery effort, coordinating with law‑enforcement agencies, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace, freeze and retrieve additional funds. The exchange pledged to publish a detailed technical post‑mortem and a full proof‑of‑reserves report on the Monday following the breach. Withdrawals are expected to resume within approximately 40 hours, according to Binance, while the Secret Service continues its round‑the‑clock investigation. The outcome of these recovery efforts and any potential attribution to state‑linked actors will shape future security practices across the crypto sector.