Lucrezia Ciotti A $6,3 billion hacker attack has hit Binance , the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. To limit the damage, approximately $3 billion in digital assets were frozen, while the platform temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals. An investigation has begun to reconstruct the intrusion.
Binance victim of massive hack: $6,3 billion involved, $3 billion frozen
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has confirmed it suffered a serious cyberattack, with an estimated economic impact of around $6,3 billion ( about €5,5 billion ). To prevent an even larger theft, the company and its partners intervened to freeze some of the affected assets : so far, approximately $3 billion has been frozen via the blockchain.
The company, which is the world's largest exchange by daily trading volume, released several updates on its X account, initially providing reassurances about the safety of customer deposits. Specifically, Binance stated that " user funds are completely safe ," later adding that it would " cover all losses " resulting from the incident.
The extent of the damage, however, could increase in the coming hours, as asset tracing and freezing activities are still ongoing.
Binance Suspends Deposits and Withdrawals: What We Know About the Hack
Around 00:30 GMT on Friday , the platform announced the temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals to allow its team to conduct investigations, block the affected assets, and cooperate with investigative authorities. According to initial internal investigations, the intrusion was possible through the compromised laptop of a DevOps engineer . Unauthorized access to a so-called service container would have then allowed the hackers to initiate unapproved withdrawals. Binance, however, clarified that it had not found " evidence of any leakage of private keys from wallets " and promised to publish a detailed technical analysis once the investigation is complete.
Changpeng Zhao, former CEO and still the company's majority shareholder, also weighed in on the matter, commenting: " It really looks like a hacker attack on Binance ."
The Bybit precedent and its impact on cryptocurrency markets
If the scale indicated by Binance is confirmed, the incident could become the largest cyberattack ever recorded in the cryptocurrency exchange sector, far surpassing the previous Bybit incident. In February 2025, the platform suffered a $1,5 billion theft, attributed to hackers linked to North Korea. The operation against Binance would therefore have involved a value more than four times greater than the previous record. Initial rumors of the intrusion, circulating several hours before official confirmation, have meanwhile caused sharp fluctuations in digital markets.
Bitcoin and Ethereum saw significant declines, dropping nearly 5% and 6% respectively , before partially recovering. Binance's native token, BNB, also saw a decline of nearly 10% before returning to positive territory. As of 06:00 a.m. Friday, Bitcoin and Ethereum were down 0,8%, while BNB was up 2,7%. Stablecoins, on the other hand, have maintained greater stability, as expected.