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SecurityQuiet 9d · day 13

Binance suspends trading after North Korea hackers steal $6.36B in record crypto heist

Blockchain investigators tie a laptop breach at Binance to North Korea's TraderTraitor unit in the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.

newest coverage 9d agosummary written 12d ago4 pieces NewswiresRedditGoogle News

What to know

  • Attackers stole roughly $6.36 billion from Binance across 10 blockchains, the largest crypto theft on record, prompting a trading suspension.
  • Blockchain firms TRM and Chainalysis attribute the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor unit, though Binance has not confirmed the attribution.
  • Binance has frozen about $3 billion of the stolen funds and pledged to cover all user losses; Tether and Circle separately froze over $2 billion in stablecoins tied to the hack.
  • Binance says the breach traces to a compromised software engineer's laptop, with no evidence wallet private keys were exposed; about $3.3 billion remains unaccounted for.

“working closely with our law enforcement partners to confirm the identity of the criminals and bring them to justice”

Binance, Company statement · Deutsche Welle ↗ · Oct 29

Binance Cryptocurrency exchange, victim of the hackYi He Binance co-founderChangpeng Zhao (CZ) Binance founder, former CEOTRM Labs US blockchain intelligence firmJonathan Levin Chainalysis co-founder and CEOPaolo ArdoinoPaolo Ardoino Tether CEOJeremy AllaireJeremy Allaire Circle CEO

Binance suspends trading after North Korea hackers steal $6.36B in record crypto heist
dw.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 1 piece in 3h at Oct 30, 12 AM; 4 pieces over 13 days (3 articles · 1 post) Oct 30, 12 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Oct 30, 3 AM — quietOct 30, 6 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Oct 30, 9 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Oct 30, 12 PM — quietOct 30, 3 PM — quietOct 30, 6 PM — quietOct 30, 9 PM — quietOct 31, 12 AM — quietOct 31, 3 AM — quietOct 31, 6 AM — quietOct 31, 9 AM — quietOct 31, 12 PM — quietOct 31, 3 PM — quietOct 31, 6 PM — quietOct 31, 9 PM — quietNov 1, 12 AM — quietNov 1, 2 AM — quietNov 1, 5 AM — quietNov 1, 8 AM — quietNov 1, 11 AM — quietNov 1, 2 PM — quietNov 1, 5 PM — quietNov 1, 8 PM — quietNov 1, 11 PM — quietNov 2, 2 AM — quietNov 2, 5 AM — quietNov 2, 8 AM — quietNov 2, 11 AM — quietNov 2, 2 PM — quietNov 2, 5 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Nov 2, 8 PM — quietNov 2, 11 PM — quietNov 3, 2 AM — quietNov 3, 5 AM — quietNov 3, 8 AM — quietNov 3, 11 AM — quietNov 3, 2 PM — quietNov 3, 5 PM — quietNov 3, 8 PM — quietNov 3, 11 PM — quietNov 4, 2 AM — quietNov 4, 5 AM — quietNov 4, 8 AM — quietNov 4, 11 AM — quietNov 4, 2 PM — quietNov 4, 5 PM — quietNov 4, 8 PM — quietNov 4, 11 PM — quietNov 5, 2 AM — quietNov 5, 5 AM — quietNov 5, 8 AM — quietNov 5, 11 AM — quietNov 5, 2 PM — quietNov 5, 5 PM — quietNov 5, 8 PM — quietNov 5, 11 PM — quietNov 6, 2 AM — quietNov 6, 5 AM — quietNov 6, 8 AM — quietNov 6, 11 AM — quietNov 6, 2 PM — quietNov 6, 5 PM — quietNov 6, 8 PM — quietNov 6, 11 PM — quietNov 7, 2 AM — quietNov 7, 5 AM — quietNov 7, 8 AM — quietNov 7, 11 AM — quietNov 7, 2 PM — quietNov 7, 5 PM — quietNov 7, 8 PM — quietNov 7, 11 PM — quietNov 8, 2 AM — quietNov 8, 5 AM — quietNov 8, 8 AM — quietNov 8, 11 AM — quietNov 8, 2 PM — quietNov 8, 5 PM — quietNov 8, 8 PM — quietNov 8, 11 PM — quietNov 9, 2 AM — quietNov 9, 5 AM — quietNov 9, 8 AM — quietNov 9, 11 AM — quietNov 9, 2 PM — quietNov 9, 5 PM — quietNov 9, 8 PM — quietNov 9, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 2 PM — quietToday, 5 PM — quietToday, 8 PM — quiet 1
Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6Nov 7Nov 8Nov 9yesterdaynow · 9:50 PM ET
  1. 1

    Binance pledges to cover all hacking losses

    Binance co-founder Yi He said the exchange would cover all losses from the hack, and founder Changpeng Zhao said as a shareholder he expects all user funds to be fully covered; Binance said its probe pointed to a compromised engineer's laptop with no evidence private keys leaked.

    “Binance will cover all hacking losses…”
    — Yi He
    1. 2 outlets Binance crypto exchange suspends trades over North Korea-linked hack

      first by Deutsche Welle, 12d ago · also The Hindu

      2 more headlines
  2. background

    Bitcoin price falls 3.2% on hack news — News of the possible hack sent Bitcoin's value tumbling by 3.2% on Thursday evening, dropping the price below $79,000.

  3. background

    Tether and Circle freeze over $2 billion in stablecoins — Tether froze around $1.6 billion in USDT according to CEO Paolo Ardoino, and Circle froze about $800 million of USDC according to boss Jeremy Allaire, both tied to the stolen funds.

  4. background

    Chainalysis CEO backs the North Korea attribution — Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CEO of blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, also said the Binance attack was likely carried out by TraderTraitor.

  5. background

    TRM attributes the hack to North Korea's TraderTraitor unit — US blockchain intelligence firm TRM said in a report published Thursday that it had high confidence the attack was carried out by TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit, citing similarities to the 2025 Bybit hack.

  6. background

    Binance suspends trading and freezes $3 billion in assets — Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals for security checks and said it had located and frozen about $3 billion of the affected assets, with $3.3 billion unaccounted for.

  7. background

    Hackers drain $6.36 billion from Binance wallets — Attackers moved roughly $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets across 10 blockchains, most of it within about 20 minutes, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.