Biggest crypto heist ever? Hackers drain billions from Binance hot wallets
Hackers raided wallets at the world's largest crypto exchange overnight. Analysts put the haul at up to $6 billion, with about $3 billion frozen. Withdrawals have been suspended.
Symbolic image · Photo: Bretwa / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been hit by a hack that experts say is likely the biggest in the industry's history. Attackers drained crypto assets from so-called hot wallets, the exchange's internet-connected accounts, overnight into Friday. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated the amount at about $5.9 billion at the time of the theft, while crypto watchers cited up to $6.3 billion. The previous record was the roughly $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, which was attributed to North Korea-linked hackers.
A large part of the loot has been blocked. Binance said more than $2.5 billion was frozen. Tether froze about $1.6 billion in USDT, according to CEO Paolo Ardoino, and Circle froze more than $800 million in USDC. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said total losses could be "a bit higher" than $1 billion. Binance suspended withdrawals and said user funds were "completely safe," pledging to cover all losses.
According to Binance, the attack began with a staff member's compromised laptop, and it found no evidence that wallet private keys had leaked. Co-CEO Yi He said withdrawals were expected to resume within 48 hours, crypto news site CoinGape reported. Markets were jittery: bitcoin fell nearly 5%, ether nearly 6% and Binance's BNB token nearly 10% at one point, AFP reported. It is unclear who is behind the attack.