Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reported a security breach involving an estimated $6.3 billion in stolen funds, in what could become the largest cryptocurrency heist in history.
The world’s largest crypto exchange said it had suspended deposits and withdrawals following the incident, while approximately $3 billion of the stolen funds had been frozen.
Binance’s preliminary investigation suggested that the attacker gained unauthorised access through an engineer’s compromised laptop, which was allegedly used to facilitate fraudulent transactions.
The exchange said it would absorb all losses and assured customers that their funds remained safe.
“Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this issue safely and thoroughly,” Binance said in a statement.
The company added that it was working with law enforcement agencies to identify those responsible and promised to release a detailed technical report after investigations were completed.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance founder and largest shareholder, had earlier confirmed that the exchange appeared to have been hacked.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM said it assessed with high confidence that the attack was carried out by TraderTraitor, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking unit linked by investigators to the Lazarus Group.
Ari Redbord, TRM’s global head of policy, described the incident as unprecedented, warning that large-scale cryptocurrency thefts by North Korean-linked hackers could have implications beyond financial markets.
“When North Korea steals at this scale, the money funds weapons proliferation and other destabilising activity. That makes this a global security issue, not just a crypto theft,” Redbord told Al Jazeera.
The incident triggered a sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin falling about five per cent to below $77,000.
Sean Foley, a cryptocurrency markets expert at Macquarie University in Sydney, said the breach could undermine confidence in centralised exchanges and weigh on digital asset prices.
He warned that a security failure at an exchange as large as Binance could unsettle retail investors and encourage traders to consider decentralised alternatives.
“Any assets held at a centralised exchange are only as safe as the exchange itself, and the larger the exchange’s holdings, the larger a target it becomes,” Foley said.
The reported $6.3 billion theft would dwarf the previous record, set in 2025 when North Korea-linked hackers stole $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.
TRM’s 2026 Crypto Crime Report estimated that cybercriminals stole $2.87 billion in cryptocurrency assets across nearly 150 hacking incidents in 2025.
Founded in 2017 by Zhao, Binance has approximately $155 billion in assets under management, making it the largest cryptocurrency exchange by that measure, according to CoinMarketCap.
The scale of the reported breach is likely to intensify scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchange security, particularly the risks associated with holding large concentrations of digital assets on centralised platforms.
