Binance hit by $6.3 billion crypto theft, North Korea link suspected
Binance is trying to recover about $6.3 billion after what outlets describe as the largest crypto theft on record. Analysts quoted by France 24 point to North Korea.
For information only, not investment advice. Prices change quickly: check the time and source of every figure.
- About $6.3 billion in assets was affected by a security incident on Binance's offshore platform on Thursday.
- It is the largest crypto theft on record, well above the $1.5 billion Bybit theft of February 2025.
- Binance said it would make affected users whole.
Binance is trying to recover about $6.3 billion in assets after a security incident on its platform on Thursday. CNBC describes it as the largest crypto theft on record. France 24 reported that hackers reportedly stole the sum from users, and that analysts point the finger at North Korea.
The theft far exceeds the previous record, set in February 2025, when hackers stole $1.5 billion from the crypto exchange Bybit, France 24 reported.
According to CNBC, the incident occurred on Binance's offshore platform. Its regulated U.S. exchange did not have a similar problem. Binance said it would make affected users whole.
In a post on X, Binance said the hack may have involved a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. In a later post it said its investigation had uncovered additional points of breach, without specifying them.
A second incident hit the prediction market platform Polymarket the same week. CNBC reported that it temporarily halted trading on its international exchange on Thursday after a third-party data provider was hacked. At least $2.7 million was drained from users' wallets. Polymarket said it would make affected users whole, and its domestic exchange was not affected.
CNBC reported that the U.S.-regulated platforms Coinbase and Robinhood were unaffected by the Binance breach, though their shares fell on Friday. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the offshore nature of these incidents was critical to note. He proposed a federal option for exchanges to register with the CFTC, saying offshore platforms "They don't have the same sorts of safeguards that we have in our financial markets". Brett Falk said U.S. regulations likely would not have stopped the Binance incident.
Experts interviewed by CNBC disagreed on whether traders should worry about leaving funds on exchanges. They said more incidents are likely, especially as artificial intelligence finds loopholes in existing cybersecurity infrastructure. Ryan Kirkley, CEO of Global Settlement Network, said: "I do not think there's anything right now that is a common solution in the marketplace where your assets are truly safe". CNBC noted that, unlike bank deposits, which the FDIC insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, no similar insurance covers funds lost from a crypto exchange.
Why it matters
Pakistani readers who use digital wallets and online platforms can see from this case how large cyber thefts happen. CNBC notes that funds lost from a crypto exchange have no insurance cover like bank deposits in the U.S.
