Crypto platform Binance confirms major hack, more than US$2.5 billion frozen
Binance confirmed a major hack affecting about US$6.3 billion, with around US$3 billion frozen; investigators suspect North Korea-linked hackers.
Oct 30, 2026, 03:15 PM
NEW YORK – Cryptocurrency platform Binance said on Oct 29 it had fallen victim to a major hack that hit around US$6.3 billion (S$8.05 million) in funds, with about half that amount frozen to prevent a massive theft.
The company said later on its X account for Latin America that “the total estimated impact is around US$6.3 billion”.
“We have worked with blockchain partners to freeze the affected assets, with about US$3 billion frozen on-chain so far,” it added.
That would be four times the amount impacted in what had been the biggest-ever cyberattack of its kind to date: US$1.5 billion taken in February 2025 from the Bybit platform.
The Bybit heist was attributed at the time to a group of hackers affiliated with North Korea called TraderTraitor.
Blockchain investigation firm TRM Labs said on Oct 29 it had “high confidence” that the Binance hack was also orchestrated by TraderTraitor, citing “robust on and off-chain intelligence”.
“Several features of this attack match earlier North Korea-linked heists,” TRM said.
TraderTraitor is believed to be part of Lazarus Group – which gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for The Interview, a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Fund freeze
At about 12.30am GMT on Oct 30, Binance said all deposits and withdrawals had been “temporarily suspended while our team conducts security checks, freezes funds, and works with law enforcement”.
“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,” the company said.
The company’s statement on X said an initial investigation suggested the hack involved a compromised laptop belonging to a “DevOps engineer”, allowing the unauthorised party to access a “service container” and execute unauthorised withdrawal transactions.
“We have found no evidence of any private key leaks from wallets,” Binance said, promising to share a detailed technical analysis once investigations were complete.
Paolo Ardoino, the chief executive officer of Tether – a company that issues a cryptocurrency known as USDT – said his firm froze about US$1.6 billion “related to a potential Binance exchange hack”.
Circle boss Jeremy Allaire said his company had frozen more than US$800 million in USDC.
USDT and USDC are both “stablecoins”, or digital currencies whose value is linked to a traditional currency, the US dollar.
The US Department of Justice and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Crypto prices tumble
For several hours before Binance confirmed the attack, several industry observers said hackers had managed to reach the platform.
The prices of most major cryptocurrencies fell on the news, except for the stablecoins, which by definition can only fluctuate within tight margins.
At about 4am GMT, bitcoin and Ethereum were down 0.8%, recovering after plunges of nearly 5% and nearly 6% respectively. BNB, native to Binance, was up 2.7% after it tumbled nearly 10%.
The cyberattack on Binance comes as many observers express worries that the ever-expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence models could compromise cryptography and IT security protocols. AFP
Source: The Straits Times https://www.straitstimes.com/business/crypto-platform-binance-confirms-major-hack-more-than-us2-5-billion-frozen?ref=latest
