North Korean Hackers Blamed for Record $6.3 Billion Binance Crypto Theft

Summary

On October 30, 2026, Binance disclosed that attackers stole at least $6.3 billion from its wallets in about 20 minutes, making the unresolved breach the largest known crypto theft, although the final amount may change. TRM Labs and Elliptic attributed the attack to North Korean hackers. Binance’s initial investigation found that a compromised engineer’s laptop let an attacker access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawals, but found no evidence that private keys leaked. The world’s largest crypto exchange suspended all deposits and withdrawals.

Spokesperson Andie Cooper said industry partners froze about $3 billion, while Binance began recovering assets with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and other partners. Binance said user funds were safe without providing proof and promised updated proof of reserves after remediation. It has not explained how the laptop was compromised, answered further questions, or disclosed whether a third party audited its systems before the attack. TRM identified the suspected cell as TraderTraitor, also blamed for Bybit’s $1.4 billion theft in 2025. Elliptic traced some funds to a wallet used in the $351 million Bitget attack earlier in 2026. Researchers say North Korea steals cryptocurrency to finance its sanctioned weapons program while remaining excluded from the U.S. and global financial systems over its nuclear development.