Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that it had halted withdrawals after it was attacked by hackers who made off with more than $6 billion in digital coins, in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist in history.
The exact nature of the attack was not immediately clear. Binance’s founder, the crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, said it “does look like a hack.” The company said it had temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals and that its customers would be made whole.
Binance said that it would cover all losses, estimated at about $6.3 billion. The company said that it had coordinated with other crypto firms to freeze about $3 billion in assets that were swept up in the hack.
The attack appeared to be the work of “North Korea’s elite hacking unit,” according to TRM Labs, a crypto research firm. The firm had “high confidence” in its assessment, it said, based on features of the hack that resembled previous thefts. TRM Labs estimated that the hackers had shifted about $2.4 billion in crypto coins “beyond any issuer’s reach.” » | David Yaffe-Bellany and Ryan Mac | David Yaffe-Bellany covers the cryptocurrency industry. Ryan Mac writes about technology. | Published: Thursday, October 29, 2026. Updated: Friday, October 30, 2026
