On Thursday night, hackers hit Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange. A crypto exchange is a website where people buy, sell and store digital money like Bitcoin. About $6.3 billion was caught up in the attack, making it the largest crypto theft on record, Yahoo Finance reported. That is more than four times the old record, the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025.
The first warning signs came Thursday evening, when outside analysts spotted billions of dollars flowing out of Binance’s “hot wallets,” the online accounts the exchange uses for everyday payouts, The Block reported. Binance co-CEO Yi He first said the company was looking into a possible security problem. Soon after, Binance stopped all deposits and withdrawals while it worked with police.
So who did it? TRM Labs and Elliptic, two companies that track where crypto money moves, linked the theft to North Korean hackers, and TRM pointed to a group called TraderTraitor, according to Yahoo Finance. Binance’s early review suggests the way in was a single engineer’s laptop that had been broken into. CNBC and Bloomberg also reported on the record-breaking attack.
Right now, there is a race to freeze the stolen money before the thieves can hide it. Tether froze more than 1.5 billion of its digital dollars and Circle froze more than 800 million of its own, The Block reported. Binance says about $3 billion has been frozen, but Elliptic estimates the hackers still control more than $3 billion. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng promised the company will cover all losses from its own money, and Yi He said withdrawals should restart by Sunday. The news shook the market, and Bitcoin fell about 5% to below $77,000, Yahoo Finance reported.
Here is the debate. Crypto fans often say no company or government can freeze your money. But this week, a few companies froze billions in a matter of hours. Is that a good thing because it helps victims get their money back, or does it prove crypto isn’t as free from control as people were promised? And if one hacked laptop can put billions at risk at the biggest exchange in the world, how safe is any exchange?
If you own crypto, don’t keep more on any one exchange than you can afford to lose, and watch out for scam messages pretending to offer Binance “refunds.”
Sources:
Yahoo Finance – Binance hacked for record $6.3 billion, withdrawals suspended after “complex attack”
The Block – Binance investigating hack after suspicious outflows
CNBC – $6.3 billion Binance hack is largest crypto theft on record
Bloomberg – Binance Suspends Deposits, Withdrawals After $6.3 Billion Hack Shakes Industry
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