Cryptocurrency giant Binance has been hit by a security breach involving $6.3bn in digital assets, in what could be the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.
The world’s biggest crypto exchange said on Thursday that about half of the affected assets had been frozen, while the remaining funds were still in the hands of hackers.
Binance said it would “cover all losses”.
Early investigations suggest the incident may have involved an engineer’s compromised laptop, which allegedly enabled an attacker to make unauthorised withdrawals.
Two cryptocurrency analytics firms have linked the attack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit, although Binance has not confirmed the group’s involvement.
The incident surpasses the previous record of $1.5bn stolen from the Bybit exchange in 2025.
AI-powered investigations company TRM Labs said several elements of the Binance attack resemble previous incidents linked to North Korea, including the Bybit hack.
TRM Labs’ global head of policy, Ari Redbord, told the BBC the Binance hack is a “watershed moment” that is unlike anything the industry has seen.
Redbord said the attacker still holds an enormous amount of stolen assets, meaning efforts to trace and recover the funds are far from over.
Chainalysis, another cryptocurrency analytics firm, also said it has “high confidence” that the North Korean group is linked to the hack.
North Korea-linked operatives have, in recent years, focused on targeting cryptocurrency companies to steal large amounts of digital tokens.
Western security agencies have previously said stolen funds are used to finance North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development programmes.
The North Korean regime has denied involvement in previous cryptocurrency hacks.
Eric Jardine, Chainalysis’ head of research, urged cryptocurrency exchanges to remain vigilant, noting that their platforms are attractive targets because of the enormous value of assets they hold.
Binance did not directly respond to BBC queries about the incident’s potential links to North Korea but said: “We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of these criminals and bring them to justice.”
The incident affects Binance.com, while Binance.US, the smaller cryptocurrency platform that provides trading services specifically for American residents, said its platform was not affected.
In a series of posts, Binance co-chief executive Yi He thanked cryptocurrency issuers for freezing the assets.
“Safety first: withdrawals are currently disabled until the environment is confirmed to be secure,” she said.
Two major cryptocurrency platforms, Tether and Circle, said they had frozen about $2.4bn in assets in response to the potential Binance hack.
Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said his firm is “closely tracking reports of a potential exploit involving Binance” and that the company had frozen more than $800m in assets linked to the incident.
Circle is the issuer and co-creator of USDC, one of the world’s largest US dollar-backed cryptocurrencies.
Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino said his firm had frozen around $1.6bn “related to a potential Binance exchange hack.”
“Protecting the industry and our partners is our main priority,” said Ardoino, whose company issues a cryptocurrency known as USDT.
World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said it had worked with its partners to freeze stolen funds.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said it was unaffected by the incident and was monitoring the situation.
Several cryptocurrency industry observers had raised concerns about a potential hack on Binance hours before the exchange confirmed the security issue.
Binance, which was founded in China in 2017, allows users to trade digital assets and is estimated to have more than 300 million registered users worldwide.
The exchange has faced regulatory scrutiny around the world.
The company said in 2024 that it had more than $160bn in assets under custody.
Bitcoin fell by more than four per cent following the alerts, while other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Solana, also recorded sharp declines.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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