Binance freezes assets after US$6.3 billion heist, crypto industry's biggest
The hackers behind the raid were from North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis.
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Hackers stole US$6.3 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in what analysts say is the biggest crypto hack ever, an attack that could prompt investors to rethink the risks of owning digital assets.
The hackers behind the raid were from North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis. The attackers targeted Binance wallets on 10 blockchains and shifted most of the funds in about 20 minutes, TRM Labs said in a statement.
Binance said it worked with partners to freeze the affected assets with about US$3 billion located so far. It did not mention the status of the remaining US$3.3 billion, and its co-founder Yi He said the exchange would cover "all hacking losses".
Binance said its deposits were unaffected and it expects to resume withdrawal services in the next 48 hours.
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TRM said several features of the attack matched earlier heists linked to North Korea, including a 2025 hack of crypto exchange Bybit that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had attributed to Pyongyang.
"We make this judgment with high confidence," it said in a statement.
"When North Korea is involved in a hack, that means those funds will be used for weapons proliferation and other types of destabilising activity," Ari Redbord, TRM's global head of policy, told CNA's Asia Now.
Redbord added that the attackers would have to launder the stolen funds and move them "off the blockchain" to be able to use them.
North Korea’s mission in Geneva and its embassy in China did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The incident could be the world's biggest crypto heist, according to analytics firm Chainalysis and other industry experts.
"It's the biggest hack in history," said Aravind Srinivasan, head of large crypto market maker GSR's systematic OTC business.
Markets reacted immediately in Asian trading on Friday.
Bitcoin dropped more than 3 per cent to a six-week low of US$76,368 and ether fell more than 3 per cent to a two-month low of US$2,178. BNB, a token originally launched as Binance Coin that can be used to pay Binance fees, was down 5 per cent over the past 24 hours at US$709.70, according to market aggregator CoinGecko.
Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global slid 4.8 per cent while those of bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6 per cent in extended US trading.
HACKED LAPTOP
An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of its engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorized withdrawals, Binance said.
"The incident stems from multiple factors. Our security team is tracing the full attack path through the compromised computer which may be the entry point of the incident," Binance said.
Beyond the potential loss of assets, the security breach was likely to have wider ramifications for crypto, which had already been under pressure due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers, analysts said.
"It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralized exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks," said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, based in Hong Kong.
Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about US$162.8 billion in assets under custody as of the exchange's 2025 annual report.
"User funds remain safe," Binance said in a statement.
BINANCE HAS SECURE ASSET FUND
Binance runs a secure asset fund for users, which is a reserve held entirely in bitcoin that is intended to protect user assets in cases of security breaches, according to its website.
"It's becoming very hard to counter hacks as AI can find vulnerabilities faster than you can fix them," said Bernardo Brites, CEO of Trace Finance, a payments and stablecoin infrastructure company.
"My view is that users will move away from smaller and medium-sized exchanges, (it is) becoming too risky to park your money somewhere that couldn't cover a hack of meaningful size."
Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly US$1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than US$800 million.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said on Thursday it had worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in what it described as a Binance hack. Binance's Yi said US$27 million in stablecoins and about US$2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.
Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly US$200 million in funds, Yi said. Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said the company was closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance and was freezing affected funds and coordinating with relevant parties.
INCIDENT ADDS TO STRING OF CRYPTO THEFTS
Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor.
The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. Last year, attackers stole US$2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said roughly US$350 million in crypto had been stolen from its platform, underscoring the industry's vulnerability to hackers.
Authorities have warned that organised crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.
Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident.
Coinbase said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.
In an unrelated incident earlier on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading after a security incident involving a third-party provider. It later resumed trading and said it would fully reimburse affected traders.
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