Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has reported that approximately $6.3 billion (£4.7 billion) worth of digital assets were affected by what it describes as "the largest hack in history." The company stated that roughly half of the assets have been frozen, but a significant amount remains under the control of suspected hackers.
Response and Promises
Binance has pledged to "cover all losses" resulting from the incident, which it believes may have involved a compromised engineer's laptop used to make unauthorised withdrawals. The exchange has temporarily suspended withdrawals while it verifies that its systems are secure.
Binance co-chief executive Yi He confirmed the suspension, stating: "Safety first: withdrawals are currently disabled until the environment is confirmed to be secure." She also thanked cryptocurrency issuers for assisting in freezing the affected funds.
Suspected North Korean Link
Two cryptocurrency analytics firms have linked the attack to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor. TRM Labs noted that several details resemble previous attacks allegedly carried out by North Korean hackers, including the $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) theft from crypto exchange Bybit in 2025.
Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, called the Binance incident a "watershed moment" unlike anything the industry had seen before. He warned that the attacker still appeared to control a huge amount of the affected assets, meaning recovery efforts were far from over.
Chainalysis, another analytics firm, said it had "high confidence" that the North Korean group was linked to the incident. Its head of research, Eric Jardine, urged other exchanges to remain alert, noting that platforms were attractive targets due to the enormous amounts of money they hold.
Industry Actions and Market Impact
Binance has not directly confirmed North Korean involvement but said it is working with law enforcement. "We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of these criminals and bring them to justice," the company said.
Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle reported freezing around $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion) in assets linked to the potential hack. Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said his company had frozen more than $800 million (£600 million) and was "closely tracking reports of a potential exploit involving Binance." World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, also said it had worked with partners to freeze stolen funds.
Concerns about a possible security breach at Binance had been raised by several people in the cryptocurrency industry hours before the company confirmed the incident. Founded in China in 2017, Binance allows users to buy, sell and trade digital currencies and is estimated to have more than 300 million registered users worldwide. News of the incident has sent cryptocurrency prices tumbling, with Bitcoin falling by more than 4%, while Ethereum and Solana also suffered sharp falls.
