Binance reports $6.3bn loss in what is described as largest crypto hack

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, disclosed that a cyber‑attack estimated to involve $6.3 billion of funds was detected in the early hours of 30 October.

The breach has been linked with an “elite” North Korean hacking group, according to US blockchain‑intelligence firm TRM Labs, which said it has “high confidence” in the attribution. Binance said it has frozen $3 billion of the affected assets on the blockchain and found no evidence of private‑key leaks.

While withdrawals remain paused pending investigation, deposits continue to operate and the exchange expects services to resume within 48 hours.

TRM Labs reported that the hackers moved assets across several blockchains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, and now hold roughly $2.4 billion – about 420,000 Ethereum and 18,270 bitcoins – beyond the reach of issuers. The firm called the incident the “largest crypto theft on record”.

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen more than $1.5 billion linked to the incident, and Circle’s co‑founder Jeremy Allaire confirmed that over $800 million of its coins were also frozen.

The hack follows a $1.5 billion loss at ByBit earlier last year, also attributed to a North Korean group, and comes amid a wave of global cyber‑attacks targeting governments, businesses and infrastructure.

Source: Silicon Republic. Photo: panumas nikhomkhai / Pexels.