Security

Binance loses $6.3B in North Korean backed hack

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October 30, 2026

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Hackers stole a record $6.3 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in a 20-minute breach that blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis attribute to elite North Korean state-backed cyber units, according to a report by Yahoo! Finance.

In response to the hack, Binance turned off withdrawals, although it expects to have them back up within 45 hours. The attack took place when a group of hackers gained access to an engineer's laptop and stole crypto from wallets.

Binance has a $1 billion bitcoin reserve to cover losses, while partners worked to freeze approximately $3 billion in funds.

The security breach sent immediate shockwaves through financial markets. Bitcoin plunged to a six-week low of $76,368, ether dropped over 3%, and BNB fell 5%. Listed crypto equities also suffered, with Coinbase shares sliding 4.8% and Strategy falling nearly 6%.

ATM Marketplace reached out to Binance for a statement. A spokesperson said in an email statement in response: "Binance has already reserved over $6.34B of company funds to cover this incident. $5B of these funds are already held in the exact token assets that were impacted. We are completing the purchase of the remaining amount by buying token assets through market channels and OTC channels. We are doing this to match the format of the remaining token assets and address any asset shortfalls. This step can take longer because some tokens may have low liquidity and OTC settlement also takes time."

This heist could severely damage investor confidence in centralized exchanges and dampen risk appetite across the broader digital asset ecosystem, which is already grappling with softening demand and macroeconomic pressures, according to the report.