Key Takeaways
- About $6.3 billion was taken from Binance hot wallets across ten blockchains on October 29, 2026.
- Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs attributes the attack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
- Binance paused withdrawals, says it will cover all losses, and began resuming withdrawals on November 1.
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, lost about $6.3 billion in a hack on October 29, 2026, making it the largest cryptocurrency theft on record. The previous record was the roughly $1.5 billion taken from Bybit in February 2025.
What happened
Most of the outflows occurred in a roughly 20-minute window beginning around 20:05 UTC, with funds leaving Binance-controlled wallets on ten blockchains including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Tron, the XRP Ledger and Solana, according to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs. Ether made up the largest share, alongside about 18,270 BTC.
TRM Labs assessed that the attacker compromised Binance's hot wallet signing infrastructure. On Ethereum, the attacker used an EIP-7702 delegation backed by pre-signed authorizations. TRM attributes the attack with high confidence to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit.
Frozen funds
Stablecoin and token issuers moved quickly. TRM reported that about $2.7 billion was frozen by issuers including Tether, Circle and Ripple, while the attacker still held assets that cannot be frozen, including large amounts of ETH and BTC.
How Binance responded
Binance temporarily suspended withdrawals, said user funds were safe and pledged to cover all losses. According to reports compiled after the incident, Binance said on October 31 that it had replenished about 90% of the losses, using its SAFU emergency fund, insurance fund, bitcoin reserves and corporate treasury. Withdrawals began resuming on November 1, starting with ETH, USDT and USDC.
What it means for you
The hack is a reminder that any exchange can be a target. If you hold crypto long term, consider moving it to self-custody with a hardware wallet, and follow our 10 tips to keep your crypto safe. We have updated our Binance review and exchange rankings to reflect the incident.
This is a developing story. Figures are based on initial reports and may change.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments are volatile and risky. Some links may be affiliate links — see our disclosure.