Binance Reports $6.3 Billion Crypto Theft

Binance suffered an estimated $6.3 billion cryptocurrency theft on October 29, with wallets across 10 blockchains drained in roughly 20 minutes after attackers breached transaction-signing systems. Binance initially suspected a compromised engineer’s laptop, but investigators later found additional breach points; researchers have pointed to North Korea-linked group TraderTraitor, though the attackers’ identity remains unconfirmed. Binance said unauthorized outflows had stopped, about $3 billion in assets had been frozen, and it had reserved more than $6.34 billion to cover losses, pledging customers would not bear the financial impact. Deposits and withdrawals were temporarily suspended as the exchange investigated and strengthened security; Binance had initially expected withdrawals to resume within 48 hours. The incident rattled crypto markets, with Bitcoin falling to a six-week low and more than $1.6 billion in leveraged positions liquidated.