Binance Hit by $6.36 Billion Crypto Heist, the Largest on Record
In what is now confirmed as the largest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded, attackers drained approximately $6.36 billion from the world’s biggest crypto exchange, Binance, in a 20-minute window on the night of October 29–30, 2026. The stolen assets came from Binance wallets across 10 blockchains, with a single transaction accounting for more than $2.5 billion.
Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have both linked the attack to TraderTraitor, the elite North Korean state-sponsored hacking unit previously blamed for the $1.5 billion Bybit heist in 2025. The breach is believed to have originated from a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, giving attackers access to a service container and allowing unauthorized withdrawal transactions to proceed.
Binance moved swiftly to contain the fallout. The exchange temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals and worked with stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle to freeze approximately $3 billion in stolen assets.
Binance CEO Richard Teng said the company would cover all user losses using its SAFU emergency fund and corporate reserves, stating that “user funds are safe.” Bitcoin fell more than 4% following the news, while Ethereum shed 4.6%.
Source: CNBC – $6.3 billion Binance hack is largest crypto theft on record