Binance Hit by $6.3 Billion Cyber Heist, Suspected North Korean Hackers Blamed

Hackers have stolen approximately $6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in what analysts described as potentially the largest financial heist in history. Blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs, Chainalysis and Elliptic expressed high confidence that North Korea was responsible for the attack. Binance said customer funds remained safe and announced that it would cover the losses using company funds. The exchange also confirmed that it was working with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Secret Service to investigate the incident.

The attack reportedly unfolded within 20 minutes late Thursday and may have originated from a compromised laptop belonging to a Binance engineer. The breach allegedly allowed attackers to access the exchange’s systems and make unauthorised withdrawals. Binance said approximately $3 billion worth of the stolen assets had been located, while stablecoin issuers, including Tether and Circle, froze substantial amounts linked to the incident. World Liberty Financial and Ripple also reportedly helped freeze affected assets. Binance had set aside approximately $6.34 billion to cover the losses and expected to resume withdrawal services within 48 hours.

The incident triggered a decline in cryptocurrency prices, with Bitcoin falling to a six-week low of $76,368 and Ether dropping more than 3% to $2,178 before markets stabilised. Binance’s BNB token also fell 5.3% over 24 hours, reflecting growing concerns among investors. The breach has renewed scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchange security, particularly amid a series of major digital-asset thefts in recent years. Analysts warned that the long-term impact would depend on the recovery of stolen funds, the extent of the losses and whether the incident undermines investor confidence in centralised cryptocurrency platforms.

Pic Courtesy: google/ images are subject to copyright