Binance pledges to cover losses after $6.3 billion breach

Binance says a security breach affected approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency and has pledged to cover all losses.

Deposits are operating normally, but withdrawals remain suspended as the exchange upgrades withdrawal security and controls over related addresses. Binance says it expects to restore withdrawals within 48 hours.

A preliminary investigation points to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. Binance says the attacker may have used it to access an internal software service and submit unauthorized withdrawals. The company has found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked and is still investigating the full attack path.

Separately, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs attributed the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking group with high confidence. It cited blockchain activity and other intelligence, including similarities to earlier North Korean attacks. Binance has not confirmed who was responsible.

Around $3 billion in affected assets has been frozen through cooperation with blockchain partners, Binance said in its October 30 security statement. The exchange revoked the affected address authorization and brought in law enforcement and blockchain investigators to help trace and recover funds.

“Binance will cover all losses from the SAFU fund and the company’s funds,” the statement said. SAFU is the exchange’s emergency protection fund for users. Binance also promised to publish updated evidence of its reserves after completing the remediation work.

The incident emerged late on October 29 as blockchain observers flagged unusually large transfers from Binance’s hot wallets, which hold cryptocurrency available for transactions. Early estimates changed as analysts identified additional affected wallets, before Binance put the total impact at approximately $6.3 billion.

Stablecoin issuers helped block some of the assets. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said his company froze more than $1.567 billion in USDT, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire reported freezing more than $800 million in USDC in coordination with law enforcement, according to BleepingComputer.

Binance warned customers to avoid unofficial links and messages requesting account information. A detailed technical report will follow once the investigation is complete.