WORLD
Binance reports record $6.3-bn heist by suspected North Korean hackers, freezes $3 bn
- IBJ Bureau
- Oct 31, 2026
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has said that it has frozen around half of the funds stolen in a complex hack after $6.3 billion was accessed in what is believed to be a record heist.
The exchange has said that $3 billion of its stolen digital assets had been secured, but many were still in the hands of unidentified hackers. It initially thought an engineer’s laptop had been compromised, allowing unauthorised withdrawals but later said the attack was wider.
Several analytics firms have linked the hack, which eclipses a $1.5-billion heist on the Bybit exchange in 2025, to a North Korean hacking unit.
The US Secret Service has said that it is “working around the clock to identify, freeze, trace and recover” stolen funds.
America’s lead federal agency for investigating financial crimes has said that it will “identify the cyber criminals responsible and bring them to justice”, while Binance has added that it is working with the FBI.
While Binance has clarified that its US-facing exchange is unaffected, the US will still have jurisdiction to investigate the hack and help track down stolen funds, an effort which generally involves a global law enforcement effort.
The hack also involves some US-linked assets, such as stablecoins Tether and Circle, the cryptocurrencies pegged to the dollar.
Binance has told its users “your money is safe, and we are covering every loss”.
Binance, which was founded in China in 2017, allows users to trade digital assets and is estimated to have more than 300 million registered users worldwide.
The company had said in 2024 that it had more than $160 billion in assets under its custody.
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