North Korean group blamed for $6.3bn Binance hack in biggest ever crypto heist

North Korean group blamed for $6.3bn Binance hack in biggest ever crypto heist Cryptocurrency exchange scrambles to freeze affected assets, with about $3bn located so far, and says it will cover losses

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by an industry-record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) hack, with experts identifying North Korea as the likely culprit.

Binance has scrambled to freeze the affected assets, with about $3bn located so far. The company gave no update on the other $3.3bn as Binance’s co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses”.

Analysts attributed the attack to North Korean state-backed hackers. North Korea has a history of crypto hacking and was behind the theft of approximately $1.5bn in virtual assets from a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange last year, according to the FBI, in what was the previous record crypto heist.

TRM, a crypto analysis firm, blamed the attack with “high confidence” on TraderTraitor, North Korea’s elite hacking unit. Chainalysis, another analysis outfit, also attributed the heist to TraderTraitor.

Binance did not explicitly confirm that funds had been stolen, although TRM and Chainalysis claimed more than $6bn had been taken. The company said its teams were “working around the clock” to resolve the problem.

An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of Binance’s engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and ⁠make unauthorised withdrawals, Binance said.

Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about $162.8bn in assets under custody as of the exchange’s 2025 annual report.

Richard Teng, a co-chief executive of Binance, said: “Bottom line – your money is safe, and we’re covering every loss.”

The company said in a statement: “As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our security teams conduct checks, secure wallet infrastructure and trace affected assets, with the close support of our law enforcement and industry partners.”

Markets reacted immediately in early Asian trading on Friday, and bitcoin – the most popular crypto asset by far – dropped more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368.

Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, who in 2023 pleaded guilty to a felony in the US related to his failure to prevent money laundering on the platform and stepped down as CEO. Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025.