Binance says it has frozen around half of the $6.3bn (£4.7bn) taken in a major hack. The world’s largest crypto exchange says $3bn of the stolen assets is now secured. Many of the remaining funds are still with unidentified hackers.
The theft appears to be the biggest crypto heist on record. It dwarfs the $1.5bn (£1.12bn) Bybit hack of 2025.
What Binance Says Happened
Binance first suspected a compromised engineer’s laptop. It later said the breach was wider. Co-CEO Richard Teng said the attack was not the work of one person. He said further investigation found more points of breach.
Teng also said the hackers used a self-destruct mechanism. It wiped their tools and traces as they worked, which makes the probe harder.
Binance told users their money is safe and that it will cover every loss. It says it has set aside more than $6.34bn in company funds and is buying a range of crypto tokens. It first suspended deposits and withdrawals. It then said deposits were unaffected.
North Korea Link
Several analytics firms have tied the attack to a North Korean hacking unit. TRM Labs said parts of the attack resembled earlier North Korean-linked incidents, including the Bybit hack. Chainalysis said it has “high confidence” in the link.
Investigators have blamed North Korean groups for nearly all major crypto thefts in the past five years. These include the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor. Experts say the sanctioned and impoverished state uses cybercrime to raise money. Pyongyang denies this.
US Investigation
The US Secret Service says it is working around the clock to freeze, trace and recover the funds. It also promised to bring those responsible to justice. Binance says it is working with the FBI.
Binance says its US-facing exchange was not affected. Even so, the US can still investigate. The hack also involved US-linked assets, including the stablecoins Tether and Circle.
Market and Customer Fears
The news shook crypto markets on Friday. Bitcoin fell 5% to $76,800 in New York trading. Coinbase dropped 12%, partly on earnings that slightly missed expectations. Robinhood fell 7.8%.
Some users and industry watchers worry about whether Binance can absorb the loss. Some have compared its reassurances to those made by FTX before its 2022 collapse.
Experts also warn that the promise to cover losses may not be legally binding. Lawyer Daniel Tunkel of Edwin Coe said any claim would depend on what customers were promised in their contracts.
Binance has more than 300 million registered users. It said in 2024 that it held more than $160bn in assets.
