North Korea has been identified as the source of the largest cryptocurrency heist on record, with $6.3bn stolen from Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The theft is reported to have occurred in roughly 20 minutes, and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit.
Binance announced on Thursday that it was investigating a potential security breach. Founder Changpeng Zhao acknowledged that the incident "does look like a hack on Binance," while the company said its teams were "working around the clock" to resolve the issue. The firm stated that cryptocurrency companies had frozen more than $2.5bn in funds by Thursday evening.
Fund Freeze and Exchange Response
In a statement, a Binance spokesperson said: "Rest assured that user funds are completely safe. Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency, and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information."
Roughly two hours after its initial disclosure, Binance posted on its X account confirming that the total verified amount of frozen funds stood at $2.54bn, a figure that later rose. The company wrote: "This figure may continue to increase as our teams work closely with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets." All deposits and withdrawals have been temporarily halted while Binance carries out security checks, freezes assets and liaises with law enforcement.
Stablecoin Providers and Market Impact
Stablecoin providers Tether and Circle both confirmed they had frozen funds on Thursday in response to the incident. Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, wrote on X that the company had frozen the equivalent of more than $800m in currency associated with the incident "in coordination with law enforcement." Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on X that the company froze the equivalent of more than $1.5bn in currency related to "a potential Binance exchange hack."
The price of bitcoin fell 3.2% Thursday evening to below $79,000.
Background on Binance and Zhao
Binance was established in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, who in 2023 admitted guilt to a felony charge linked to his failure to stop money laundering on the platform and resigned as CEO. President Donald Trump granted him a pardon in 2025. Zhao posted on X Thursday that "User funds are safe!" but acknowledged the incident "does look like a hack on Binance." He stated that while he no longer runs Binance, "as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."
Zhao walked free from prison last year following his sentence for breaching the Bank Secrecy Act, becoming the first individual ever jailed for such violations of that law, which mandates U.S. financial institutions to verify customer identities, monitor transactions and submit reports of suspicious activity. Prosecutors stated that nobody had ever flouted the regulations to the degree Zhao did. Zhao and Binance have been major backers of some of the Trump family's crypto ventures.
