Hackers took $6.3bn from crypto exchange Binance in about 20 minutes. It's being called the biggest theft in history
Why it hits youIf you hold crypto on an exchange, you don't really hold the coins yourself: the exchange does. If it's hacked, you're relying on its promise to pay you back. In the UK there's no compensation scheme for crypto like there is for bank savings. And hacks like this are usually followed by a wave of scam messages offering fake 'refunds'.
On Thursday evening an attacker drained about $6.3bn (£4.7bn) of crypto from Binance, the world's biggest exchange. Binance has frozen withdrawals and says it will cover every loss from its own money. Blockchain experts blame a North Korean hacking unit. Crypto backers say it was one company's security failure, not a flaw in crypto. Critics say it shows how little protection you get if things go wrong.
The Facts
What everyone agrees on
Before anyone spins it. Every one of these is checkable.
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Binance says about $6.3bn (£4.7bn) of crypto was stolen on 29 October. Estimates from blockchain analysts range from $6.3bn to $6.4bn. The Guardian ↗
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The theft started at about 8pm UK time and most of the money left Binance's wallets on ten different blockchains within about 20 minutes. It included about 18,270 bitcoin. TRM Labs ↗
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Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic says it is almost certainly the largest known theft of any kind, more than four times the $1.5bn taken from the exchange Bybit in 2025. Elliptic ↗
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Binance says its first investigation suggests the attack “may involve a compromised Dev0ps engineer's laptop”, which let the attacker submit unauthorised withdrawals. It says it has found no evidence that wallet private keys leaked. The Independent ↗
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Analysts at TRM Labs and Chainalysis blame TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit. Elliptic says North Korea is likely but not yet certain. No government has confirmed who did it. Elliptic ↗
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About $3bn of the stolen coins has been frozen, mostly digital dollars (stablecoins) frozen by the companies that issue them, Tether and Circle. The Guardian ↗
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Binance says it has reserved more than $6.34bn of company funds to cover the losses. Withdrawals stay suspended while it rebuilds the service. The Guardian (live) ↗
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Bitcoin fell more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368 in early Asian trading on Friday. The Guardian ↗
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Crypto is largely unregulated in the UK, and the FCA says you're highly unlikely to be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong. Financial Conduct Authority ↗
Every Side · 1 of 3
Binance and crypto backers
“Your money is safe, and we're covering every loss”
Binance's co-chief executive Richard Teng told customers: “Bottom line – your money is safe, and we're covering every loss.” The company says it has already set aside more than $6.34bn of its own funds, $5bn of it in the exact coins that were taken. Wall Street analysts called it a failure of one company's security, not of crypto itself. One, Lance Vitanza of TD Cowen, compared it to a bank robbery: people don't stop using dollars when a bank is robbed. Michael Saylor, whose company owns a huge amount of bitcoin, said the industry would “emerge stronger and more resilient”.
- Richard Teng, Binance co-CEO
- Wall Street crypto analysts
- Michael Saylor, Strategy
Side labels are our editorial calls for now. How we'll rate lean
Every Side · 2 of 3
Lawyers, security experts and the regulator
A promise to repay isn't the same as protection
Lawyer Alexander Shirtcliff of Edwin Coe said Binance's own terms limit what it owes customers, and warned: “It is very unlikely that voluntarily distributed reserves will be enough and customers will have to seek to compel Binance to make them whole.” Security experts asked why one engineer's laptop could open the door to billions. Rafe Pilling of Sophos said crypto is “less well regulated, easier to move, easier to launder”, which makes it a magnet for North Korean hackers. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says Binance wasn't registered with it to provide crypto services here, and has long warned crypto buyers to be ready to lose all their money.
- Alexander Shirtcliff, Edwin Coe
- Rafe Pilling, Sophos
- Financial Conduct Authority
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Every Side · 3 of 3
What it means for you
If you've got crypto on Binance, you can't move it yet
Withdrawals are frozen while Binance rebuilds its systems. It says it hopes to switch them back on by Sunday and will publish proof it holds enough to cover customers by Monday. If you're affected, only trust Binance's official app and website for updates, not social media. Ignore any unexpected message about the hack, especially ones offering to “recover” your money. Security experts say: use a unique password, use an authenticator app instead of text-message codes, and never store your recovery phrase on your phone or computer.
- Muhammad Yahya Patel, Huntress
- Financial Conduct Authority
Side labels are our editorial calls for now. How we'll rate lean
The Blindspot · what the headlines skip
Crypto backers skip the small print
“We're covering every loss” is a company promise, not a legal guarantee. Binance's own terms limit its liability, and lawyers say customers may need to go to court if the payout falls short.
The Blindspot · what the headlines skip
Critics skip how much was clawed back
Nearly half the haul was frozen within hours, because the stablecoin firms can lock their own tokens. That's something cash robbers don't face. But the bitcoin and ether taken can't be frozen the same way.
The Blindspot · what the headlines skip
Who's doing the blaming?
The North Korea link comes from private blockchain-tracking firms, which sell their services to exchanges and governments. Their record on past hacks is strong, but no government has confirmed it this time.
Your Call
- Binance and crypto backers: not yet
- Lawyers, security experts and the regulator: not yet
- What it means for you: not yet
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Hero image: File photo: Ajay Suresh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped) · A bitcoin ATM sign in New York, 2019 ↗
By No Glaze News · published
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