Skip to main content
Splyt Genesis

Crypto markets, protocols and policy

Binance freezes withdrawals after $6.3 billion wallet breach

Binance says attackers stole about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets, freezing withdrawals as it covers the loss and works to secure affected systems.

The Splyt Genesis Desk

Binance freezes withdrawals after $6.3 billion wallet breach

Binance says hackers took about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets on Oct. 29, and the exchange has suspended withdrawals while it checks affected systems. In its Oct. 30 security update, Binance said it would cover the loss and that deposits and other unaffected services remained operational.

How much was taken, and what has Binance recovered?

Binance put the loss at about $6.3 billion and said it had set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover it. The exchange said $5 billion of that was held in the same token assets that were stolen, including bitcoin, ether, BNB, USDT and USDC.

Binance also said it had worked with law enforcement, blockchain firms, token issuers and other industry partners to freeze about $3 billion on-chain. That amount is frozen, not necessarily returned to users; recovery efforts are continuing.

How did the attackers get in?

Binance said its initial investigation pointed to a compromised laptop, but investigators later found additional points of breach. The exchange said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked, and it has not yet described the full attack sequence.

The Associated Press report said blockchain analysis firm TRM attributed the attack with high confidence to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit. Binance said it was working with law enforcement to confirm who was responsible.

When could withdrawals resume?

Binance said it was targeting a phased restart about 34 hours after its update, depending on security checks. It also said it planned to share further technical findings within about 48 hours, once verified.

The exchange said it planned an initial proof-of-reserves snapshot within 12 hours and expected the report by Monday, Nov. 2. Watch for Binance’s next update on the withdrawal restart, the reserve report and whether investigators can recover more of the frozen funds.

Source material