Hackers have stolen approximately $6.3 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in an incident analysts describe as the biggest attack in the sector's history. The breach caused immediate declines in Bitcoin and Ether prices while mobilizing industry players to freeze portions of the stolen funds. According to blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs, the attackers targeted wallets across 10 different blockchains, transferring the majority of the assets within roughly 20 minutes. The company linked the operation to groups based in North Korea, citing technical similarities to previous heists attributed to Pyongyang, including a 2025 attack on Bybit that was investigated by the FBI.
Chainalysis reported that it could not yet confirm the specific cause of the intrusion but had identified at least $5.912 billion in stolen assets as of 21:30 Brasilia time. Mark Karpeles, former head of Mt. Gox, suggested to Reuters that Binance's assets appear distributed across different systems. He theorized that the intruder may have obtained valid authorization to move funds within certain platform systems or potentially accessed a private key. In response, Binance collaborated with partners to block affected resources and has located approximately $3 billion. Yi He, co-founder of the exchange, stated that the company would cover all losses resulting from the attack.
Several other major companies joined efforts to prevent the movement of the stolen values. Tether froze nearly $1.57 billion in related assets, while Circle blocked more than $800 million. Ripple froze approximately $200 million. Additionally, World Liberty Financial, a company linked to President Donald Trump's family, worked with custodian BitGo to freeze funds; Yi He noted this included $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million in the company's tokens.
An initial investigation by Binance indicated the breach may have originated from the compromise of an engineer's computer. This access allegedly allowed the intruder to reach one of the exchange's systems and execute unauthorized withdrawals. The firm affirmed that user deposits were not affected and expected to resume withdrawals within 48 hours of the attack. Binance also maintains a customer protection fund composed entirely of Bitcoin.
The incident triggered significant market volatility. Bitcoin fell more than 3%, hitting a six-week low of $76,368, while Ether dropped over 3% to reach $2,178. Coinbase shares declined 4.8%, and Strategy shares retreated nearly 6% in extended U.S. trading. Amanda He, investment director at ChainUp Investment, told Reuters that the initial drop may have been caused by the hacker selling cryptocurrencies, spreading fear among investors during Asian trading hours. Her firm sold its positions on Binance and transferred movable funds to stablecoins.
Tim Sun, a senior researcher at HashKey Group, warned that interruptions in deposits and withdrawals could hinder capital movement between platforms and affect market makers. Damon Xu, founder of 1Token, predicted a reduction in strategies involving simultaneous operations across different exchanges and the use of leverage. He suggested that decentralized platforms might benefit from a potential migration of capital. Conversely, Jeff Ko, chief analyst at ViaBTC, noted that Bitcoin might face less selling pressure because its transactions are traceable on the blockchain, making it difficult to move stolen funds without leaving records. In contrast, Ether could face greater pressure due to tools that facilitate hiding the origin of transactions.
Sources: Olhar Digital.