Hackers steal $6.3 billion from Binance in record crypto theft

Hackers moved $6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, in a breach that lasted about 20 minutes late on Thursday, according to Reuters. The attack, which analysts at TRM Labs and Chainalysis say was carried out by North Korea’s elite hacking unit, caused a sharp drop in cryptocurrency prices and forced Binance to suspend withdrawals.

Binance announced that about half of the stolen assets have been frozen by stablecoin issuers. Tether froze nearly $1.57 billion, Circle more than $800 million, and World Liberty Financial, working with custodian BitGo, froze $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million in its own tokens. Ripple also froze roughly $200 million.

Response and coverage > "Your money is safe and we’re covering every loss," co‑CEO Richard Teng said on X. The company said it had located about $3 billion of the missing funds but did not disclose the status of the remaining $3.3 billion. It expects to resume withdrawals within 48 hours.

Market impact Bitcoin fell to a six‑week low of $76,368 and ether dropped more than 3 percent to $2,178, while Binance’s BNB token slid 5 percent to $709.70, according to CoinGecko. Shares of Coinbase Global fell 4.8 percent and Strategy’s stock slipped nearly 6 percent in extended U.S. trading.

Investigation Binance said the breach may have begun with a compromised laptop belonging to one of its engineers, giving the attacker access to a withdrawal wallet. Former Mt. Gox chief Mark Karpeles suggested the hackers likely obtained private keys for at least two Binance wallets.