Binance Hit by a $6 Billion Heist: Withdrawals Suspended After the Biggest Crypto Theft Ever, With Tracing Firms Pointing to North Korea
Hackers reached Binance's wallets through an engineer's laptop and took $6 billion, CNN reported. About $3 billion has been frozen, the exchange says user funds are safe and covered, and withdrawals are expected back by Sunday morning.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has suspended withdrawals after hackers broke into its digital wallets and stole $6 billion in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist ever, CNN reported Friday. The exchange said it has begun recovering affected assets and is working with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence firms to trace the rest. An initial investigation suggested the hack went through an engineer's laptop, which 'allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions,' Binance said late Thursday.
A team of cryptocurrency firms managed to freeze about $3 billion of the stolen money in what CNN described as a frenetic battle with the hackers to find and control the funds. Binance said it would cover all losses from company funds and an emergency assets fund, adding that 'user funds are safe,' and that it had temporarily suspended deposits as well as withdrawals while security checks are completed; it expects withdrawal services to resume by Sunday morning. Co-CEO Richard Teng said on X that the attack was not a 'one-click' action but a complex process, and that the investigation has found no evidence of any wallet private key leak.
The attribution, so far, points one way. TRM Labs attributed the heist to an elite North Korean hacking unit 'based on robust on and off-chain intelligence,' saying several features match earlier North Korea-linked heists; Singapore-based Pangolin Intelligence said it also believed a North Korean unit was behind it, and Chainalysis told CNN it had 'high confidence' North Korea was responsible. CNN reached out to North Korea's mission at the UN for comment; Pyongyang has previously denied hacking allegations. A Pangolin analyst warned the 'cat and mouse game has barely begun,' with a laundering network likely to try to cash out the funds.
American investigators are already in it. The FBI said Friday it is 'aware of the incident and is engaged with relevant public and private partners,' and a Secret Service spokesperson said investigators are working 'around the clock' with partners including Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, to identify, freeze, trace and recover the funds stolen Thursday. If the North Korea attribution holds, the $6 billion would dwarf the previous record - the $1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit exchange, also blamed on North Korean hackers. Bitcoin and ether prices fell on the news before recovering some losses to trade about 2 to 3 percent lower midday Friday in Hong Kong, CNN reported.
