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Binance says hot-wallet hack cost $6.3 billion

Binance says hackers stole about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets on Oct. 29, with roughly $3 billion frozen as the exchange pledges to cover losses.

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Binance says hot-wallet hack cost $6.3 billion

Binance said hackers stole about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets on Oct. 29, in what blockchain firms call the largest crypto theft on record. The exchange said it would cover users’ losses and had set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds, according to its Oct. 30 security update.

How did the attackers get in?

Binance said the incident involved unauthorized withdrawals from its hot wallets, which it reported were compromised at about 20:05 UTC. Its initial investigation suggested a laptop may have been compromised, but the exchange later found additional points of breach and said it had not found evidence that wallet private keys were leaked.

Blockchain firm TRM estimated that about $6.36 billion moved from Binance wallets across ten blockchains, mostly within about 20 minutes, and attributed the attack to North Korea-linked group TraderTraitor. AP reported that Chainalysis also said the group was likely responsible; Binance said it was working with law enforcement to identify the attackers.

How much has been frozen, and what happens to users?

Binance said about $3 billion in affected assets had been frozen on-chain with help from law enforcement, blockchain intelligence firms, issuers and industry partners. The company said it would cover all stolen funds through its Secure Asset Fund for Users and corporate treasury, and that it had reserved more than $6.34 billion, including $5 billion in the affected tokens.

Withdrawals were temporarily suspended while Binance reviewed and secured affected systems; deposits and other unaffected services remained operational, according to the exchange. Binance said it was working to restore withdrawals in phases and planned to publish a technical postmortem after its investigation.

The theft exceeds the $1.5 billion taken from Bybit in 2025, AP reported, citing the previous record. AP also reported that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said the Binance incident may be the largest by dollar value, while other thefts had affected more bitcoin.

Sources