Binance Hit by Cyberattack, $6.3 Billion in Cryptocurrency Stolen

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has suffered one of the largest security breaches in the history of digital assets, with attackers reportedly transferring approximately $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency without authorization. According to the company, the attack began when a DevOps engineer’s laptop was compromised, allowing the perpetrators to gain access to a service container and initiate unauthorized transactions. An analysis by TRM Labs indicates that the attackers targeted wallets across ten blockchain networks, transferring most of the funds in approximately 20 minutes.

Working with its partners, Binance managed to freeze around $3 billion in stolen assets, including approximately $1.6 billion blocked by Tether. Security researchers at TRM Labs and Chainalysis suspect that hackers linked to North Korea were responsible for the operation, although their involvement has not been officially confirmed. Binance stated that it has found no evidence that cryptocurrency wallet private keys were compromised and has pledged to fully cover customer losses. Following the discovery of the attack, deposits and withdrawals were temporarily suspended, with withdrawals expected to resume within 48 hours.

The company has announced that it will publish a detailed technical analysis once the investigation is complete, while news of the incident briefly pushed Bitcoin’s price below $80,000.