By Abigail Mbah
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has suffered what is being described as the biggest cryptocurrency theft in history, after attackers allegedly drained approximately $6.3 billion in digital assets from its hot wallets.
The security breach, which occurred primarily within a short period late on October 29, involved the movement of funds across multiple blockchain networks, raising fresh concerns about the security of centralised cryptocurrency exchanges.
Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have attributed the attack, with high confidence, to TraderTraitor, a North Korean-linked hacking group previously associated with major cryptocurrency thefts, including the $1.5 billion Bybit attack in 2025.
Binance’s preliminary investigation identified a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer as a possible entry point. The attackers reportedly used the access to infiltrate a service container associated with the exchange’s withdrawal infrastructure.
Further investigations uncovered additional potential points of compromise. However, Binance said it had found no evidence that its wallet private keys were exposed.
In response, the exchange suspended withdrawals while rebuilding and testing affected systems, although deposits remained operational.
Co-CEO Richard Teng said Binance was targeting a resumption of withdrawals by Sunday, subject to the completion of security checks. The company also pledged to compensate affected customers, stating that all user funds would be made whole.
To address the losses, Binance said it had reserved more than $6.34 billion in its own funds, including $5 billion already held in the affected tokens. It also plans to draw on its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), an emergency reserve established to protect customers against unexpected losses.
The exchange is working with blockchain intelligence companies, industry partners and law enforcement agencies to recover the stolen assets. Approximately $3 billion has reportedly been frozen, with stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle among the major contributors to the recovery effort.
The incident triggered significant volatility across cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin fell below $77,000, touching lows of approximately $76,300 to $76,400 before partially recovering. More than $1.5 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated during the ensuing market sell-off, while Binance’s native BNB token also declined.
The scale of the breach has renewed questions about the vulnerability of centralised exchanges, particularly their internal access controls, hot-wallet security and withdrawal management systems.
Binance said it would publish a comprehensive post-incident report after completing its investigation, as the cryptocurrency industry faces renewed pressure to strengthen security safeguards and restore investor confidence.