World's Largest Crypto Currency Exchange Binance Suspends Deposits and Withdrawals after Massive $6.3 Billion Crypto Hack; North Korean Hackers Suspected

The world’s largest crypto exchange was compromised in what could be the biggest crypto heist ever. One research lab attributed the theft to “North Korea’s elite hacking unit.”

· Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals following a major cyberattack resulting in estimated losses of $6.3 billion, potentially the biggest cryptocurrency heist in history.

· Binance stated that it would cover all customer losses and had coordinated with other cryptocurrency firms to freeze approximately $3 billion in stolen assets.

· Crypto research firm TRM Labs attributed the attack, with high confidence, to North Korea's elite hacking unit, citing similarities with previous cyberattacks.

· Around $2.4 billion in stolen cryptocurrency was reportedly transferred beyond the reach of asset issuers.

· Binance suggested that hackers might have compromised an engineer's laptop to facilitate unauthorised withdrawals.

· The security breach triggered turmoil in cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin falling below $80,000 for the first time in more than a month.

· Binance founder Changpeng Zhao reassured customers that their funds were protected by the company's emergency reserve fund.

· Other cryptocurrency firms, including Tether and Circle, joined efforts to contain the damage, freezing over $2.3 billion in assets associated with the incident.

· The attack raises fresh concerns over cybersecurity and the safety of customer funds held by cryptocurrency exchanges, following the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025.

[ABS News Service/30.10.2026]

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that it had halted withdrawals after it was attacked by hackers who made off with more than $6 billion in digital coins, in what could be the biggest crypto heist in history.

The exact nature of the attack was not immediately clear. Binance’s founder, the crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, said it “does look like a hack,” while a company spokesman referred to it as a “security incident.” The company said it had temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals and that its customers would be made whole.

“Binance will cover all losses,” the spokesman said, adding that the “estimated total impact” was around $6.3 billion. It added that it had coordinated with other crypto firms to freeze about $3 billion in assets that were swept up in the hack.

The attack appeared to be the work of “North Korea’s elite hacking unit,” according to TRM Labs, a crypto research firm. The firm had “high confidence” in its assessment, it said, based on features of the hack that resembled previous thefts. TRM Labs estimated that the hackers had shifted about $2.4 billion in crypto coins “beyond any issuer’s reach.”

In a statement, the Binance spokesman said that the attackers might have compromised an engineer’s laptop, leading to unauthorized withdrawals.

“Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this issue safely and thoroughly,” he said. “We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of these criminals and bring them to justice.”

News of the security breach caused chaos in the crypto industry, which has faced a string of damaging cyberattacks over the years. In February 2025, Bybit, one of Binance’s top rivals, lost $1.5 billion to North Korean hackers — the largest heist in crypto history. The Binance attack appears poised to top it.

The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, dropped below $80,000 for the first time in more than a month.

On social media, Mr. Zhao tried to steady nerves with a mix of soothing responses and prayer hand emojis. He suggested in a post on X that customers’ investments were safe because they were backed by an emergency reserve fund.

“It hurts, but we will survive,” Mr. Zhao wrote on Thursday evening.

He also spent time combating what he interpreted as trolling by X’s owner, the billionaire Elon Musk. After an X user compared Mr. Zhao’s statements about his customers’ deposits to the reassurances of Sam Bankman-Fried during the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX, Mr. Musk responded with a grimacing emoji.

“Elon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll,” Mr. Zhao replied. He then noted that Binance had helped Mr. Musk in the past, investing $500 million in his acquisition of Twitter. That investment is now “worth more than a billion” in SpaceX shares, X’s parent company, Mr. Zhao noted.

In another post, Mr. Zhao suggested that Binance’s SpaceX holdings could be used to cover the customer losses from the hack.

Binance has weathered years of legal and regulatory problems. In 2023, the company pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws and paid $4.3 billion in penalties to the U.S. government. Mr. Zhao was sentenced to four months in federal prison.

After his release, Mr. Zhao received a pardon from President Trump. Binance has also forged a business relationship with the Trump family crypto business, World Liberty Financial, a major source of the president’s wealth.

Binance plays a crucial role in the crypto industry. It is the world’s largest marketplace for digital coins, a platform that customers use to swap traditional currencies for Bitcoin, Ether and other types of crypto.

But like many crypto exchanges, it also operates as something akin to a bank. Customers store their holdings on Binance, relying on the exchange to keep their funds safe.

As news of the apparent theft spread on Thursday, Binance’s industry peers rushed to its aid. Tether, a major crypto platform, said it had frozen more than $1.5 billion in crypto related to “a potential Binance hack.” Circle, another crypto firm, said it had frozen more than $800 million “associated with the incident.”