Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, said late on October 29 that a security breach affected about $6.3 billion in crypto, the largest theft ever reported. It paused withdrawals, said about $3 billion has been frozen with help from other firms, and says it will cover users' losses from its own funds. Withdrawals are expected back within about 45 hours, per its latest update. If you use Binance, don't act on any message about the hack, refunds or reopened withdrawals. Check only inside the app.

Key facts

  • Who: Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume; Binance.US says it was not affected
  • What: Unauthorized withdrawals from Binance wallets; Binance first pointed to a possibly compromised engineer's laptop, then said it found "additional points of breach"
  • When: Outflows on October 29, 2026; withdrawals paused that evening, with a restart expected within about 45 hours of Binance's October 30 update
  • How much: About $6.3 billion affected, per Binance; about $3 billion frozen, including about $2.3 billion in USDT and USDC
  • Source: Forbes and Infosecurity Magazine, reporting Binance's statements

On the evening of October 29, crypto started leaving Binance that Binance hadn't sent. By the next morning the exchange put a number on it: about $6.3 billion in crypto affected, the largest theft ever reported, Forbes reported. Withdrawals are paused while the exchange rebuilds the system that sends them.

What Binance has said

Binance's first explanation was that a software engineer's laptop may have been compromised, which let someone make withdrawals that weren't authorized. In an update on October 30 it said its investigation had found "additional points of breach," without saying what they were, Infosecurity Magazine reported. A full report on the cause is promised later.

The exchange says it worked with blockchain firms to freeze about $3 billion of the affected assets, including about $2.3 billion in the stablecoins USDT and USDC. Tether's chief executive said it froze more than $1.5 billion in USDT tied to the incident, and Circle froze USDC as well. Binance says it will cover user losses from its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and company money. Deposits are working again. Withdrawals are expected to restart within about 45 hours of the October 30 update, though it hasn't said whether every network reopens at once. Binance.US, a separate company, says it wasn't affected.

What isn't known yet

Who did it. Blockchain analysts have linked the theft to North Korean hackers, but Binance hasn't named anyone and North Korea routinely denies these claims. Freezes also have limits: reports say the thief has been swapping tokens that stablecoin companies can't freeze, so the final loss may differ from both early figures. You may see $3.3 billion in some headlines; that was the first estimate of what left Binance's hot wallets, before the exchange gave its own total.

While withdrawals are paused

  • Don't chase a link. Expect emails, texts and posts saying withdrawals have reopened, or offering "compensation" or a "claim form." Check for news only inside the Binance app or by typing the address yourself.
  • Nobody needs your keys to pay you back. Binance would refund to your account. A message asking for your login, two-step codes or recovery phrase, or asking you to send crypto first, is a scam. More on fake support scams.
  • Ignore anyone selling "recovery." After every big hack, fake recovery firms show up promising to trace your coins for a fee. Here's how recovery scams work.
  • When withdrawals return, there's no rush to click. Expect a queue. A copycat site with a countdown is the bigger danger.

The bigger lesson

Yesterday we wrote about a company that couldn't get its bitcoin out of an exchange. This is the same lesson at a much larger size. Coins on an exchange sit in the exchange's wallets, under its control, and you can only take them out when it lets you. Binance says it can cover this loss. Keep only what you trade on any exchange, and hold the rest in a wallet you control.

Sources: Forbes, Binance Says $6.3 Billion Impacted In Record Crypto Hack, Suspends Withdrawals (October 30, 2026), Infosecurity Magazine, Binance Hit by Record-Breaking $6.3bn Hack in Largest Crypto Heist (October 2026), CNBC, Biggest-ever crypto hack impacts $6.3 billion as Binance works to contain fallout (October 29, 2026), The Block, Binance investigating hack as suspicious outflows reach up to $5.8 billion (October 29, 2026).