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The world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, has reported a possible hack that allowed unknown individuals to make unauthorized transactions. The total damage is estimated at $6.3 billion, about $3 billion of which was frozen. The company promises to cover all user losses if the funds cannot be returned. Analysts suspect that a North Korean hacker group is behind the attack.
“It appears that Binance has indeed been hacked,” former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who remains its largest shareholder, wrote on X late Thursday.
The company itself reported an incident related, according to a preliminary investigation, to the hacking of the computer of one of the engineers. Unknown persons gained access, which allowed them to carry out withdrawal operations. There are no indications that the attackers gained access to the keys of individual crypto wallets.
Binance estimates the total damage at $6.3 billion. About $3 billion of this amount was frozen in the blockchain so that attackers could not withdraw them.
The Circle platform (which issues the USDC cryptocurrency) froze assets worth more than $800 million in connection with the incident, said company CEO Jeremy Allaire. Tether (issues USDT) has frozen about $1.6 billion, said the head of the platform, Paolo Ardoino. Smaller companies that issue cryptocurrencies also froze funds.
All user assets are safe, Binance assures: the company is ready to cover any losses from its special SAFU fund and its own funds.
Binance temporarily suspended all transactions on the crypto exchange when it became aware of the incident, but has already restored the ability to make deposits. Users are still unable to withdraw funds, but the company hopes to restore functionality within 48 hours.
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Who is behind the attack
Until now, the largest hack of a crypto exchange was a cyber attack on Bybit in February 2025: attackers then gained access to tokens worth $1.5 billion. That hack was associated with the hacker group TraderTraitor, working for the DPRK.
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Analysts believe that the same group is behind the Binance hack.
Thus, the blockchain analytics company TRM declares TraderTraitor’s involvement with a “high degree of confidence.” Chainanalysis also links the attack to North Korean hackers with a “high degree of confidence.”
“We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of the attackers and bring them to justice,” Binance itself said in response to a question from the BBC about the involvement of hackers associated with the DPRK in the hack.
After reports of a Binance hack, cryptocurrency prices fell. Bitcoin fell more than 4%.
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