Binance confirms crypto heist, biggest in history, but no one’s sure what broke

Binance has officially acknowledged a significant cyber theft, which is being described as the largest in the history of cryptocurrency. Preliminary estimates suggest that around $5.7 billion worth of users' crypto assets were stolen from wallets on the exchange during the incident that occurred on Thursday. Yi He, co-founder of Binance, announced via social media that the exchange has temporarily halted all deposits and withdrawals. She assured users that their funds remain secure and that Binance will cover all losses incurred from the hack.

In her statement, Yi confirmed that Binance is collaborating with law enforcement agencies, although she did not clarify whether this involves international coordination. She emphasized the importance of relying on official Binance communications for updates, stating, “We will share a full post-mortem once the investigation is complete.” Binance holds the title of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world based on daily trading volume.

Initial assessments from Binance suggest that the breach may have stemmed from a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. This breach allegedly allowed an attacker to access a service container and execute unauthorized withdrawal transactions from user accounts. Binance has stated, “We have found no evidence of any wallet private key leak. We will share a detailed technical post-mortem once the investigation is complete and the facts are fully verified.” The integrity of private keys will be crucial for Binance to resume normal operations in the future.

Estimates of the total value of the stolen cryptocurrency have been revised to approximately $6.3 billion. Binance reported that they are working with blockchain partners to freeze the affected assets, with around $3 billion already frozen on-chain. The company has pledged to cover all losses through its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and its own resources.

This incident adds to a troubling trend of high-profile cyberattacks and data breaches occurring recently, prompting cybersecurity experts to label October as “Black October.” Earlier in the day, the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket also reported a cyberattack, which led to a suspension of its operations. Research firm Hudson Rock indicated that the Polymarket breach was linked to a cybersecurity incident involving a third-party monitoring tool named DebugBear.

In light of the Binance hack, other major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Tether and Circle, have taken precautionary measures by freezing crypto accounts to mitigate potential losses for their users. Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, mentioned that around $1.6 billion in assets has been frozen due to concerns related to the Binance incident. Neither Tether nor Circle has confirmed if they are currently under attack.

If the estimates regarding the Binance hack are accurate, it would surpass the Bybit hack of 2025, in which hackers associated with North Korea stole approximately $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency. Digital asset advisory firm Glassnode has assessed the value of the Binance hack at around $5.3 billion.

The inherent characteristics of cryptocurrency, which operates outside regulatory frameworks and lacks the intrinsic value associated with traditional currencies and commodities, make it particularly susceptible to market volatility, especially during significant withdrawal or deposit activities. At this time, Binance has not disclosed the specifics regarding the origin of the attack or the exact value of the stolen cryptocurrencies.

Following the announcement of the cyberattack, the prices of several major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, have seen a decline of up to 5%.