TLDR
Hackers took as much as US$6.3 billion ($8.9 billion) from Binance, the largest crypto theft on record. About US$3 billion has been frozen, Binance says it will cover all losses, and investigators have pointed to North Korea.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Hackers have taken as much as US$6.3 billion ($8.9 billion) from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in the biggest theft the industry has seen.[1]
Binance estimated the total hit at about US$6.3 billion. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis put it closer to US$5.9 billion at the time of the theft.[2]
About US$3 billion has since been frozen.[1] Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said his company had frozen more than US$1.57 billion in its USDT stablecoin. Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said Circle had frozen more than US$800 million in USDC.[2]
A staff laptop
Binance said the attackers may have got in through a staff member's laptop. Its early investigation pointed to a compromised engineer's machine that let the attacker submit withdrawals without authorisation.[1][2]
"We have found no evidence of any wallet private key leak," a Binance spokesperson said.[1]
The money was drained from hot wallets, the internet-connected wallets exchanges use for everyday trading. Thirty to 40 tokens were taken, including bitcoin, ether and the stablecoins USDT and USDC.[1]
Binance has suspended deposits and withdrawals while security checks are completed. It said user funds were safe and that it would cover all losses from its user protection fund and company money.[1][2]
Founder Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as chief executive in 2023, said as a shareholder he expected all user funds to be fully covered.[3]
North Korea in the frame
The previous record was the US$1.5 billion theft from the exchange Bybit in February 2025, which was blamed on North Korea's Lazarus Group.[1]
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs attributed the Binance attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group, and said it had high confidence in that view.[2]
"This is definitely the largest [crypto hack] to date," said Nicholas Turnbull, a blockchain forensics expert and director of Crypto Consulting Australia.[1]
"We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of these criminals and bring them to justice," Binance said.[1]
Prices slide
Bitcoin fell 4.8 per cent to below US$77,000 as news of the theft spread. Ether fell 5.7 per cent and Binance's own BNB token fell 8 per cent.[2]
RMIT economics professor Chris Berg said not all of the money would necessarily stay stolen.[1]
"There are different layers of defence," he said. "Stablecoin providers can freeze those funds.
"[The hackers] have to withdraw it through an exchange somehow and that represents its own difficulty."[1]
Professor Berg said the attack may be connected to a month of hacking incidents and security flaws uncovered with frontier AI models.
"The hackers will definitely be using AI because everybody is using AI," he said.[1]
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
