Around $6.3 billion left Binance in the early hours of 30 October. What is known, what the exchange has said and what anyone holding crypto-assets on a platform should bear in mind.
In the early hours of Friday 30 October 2026, Binance, the world’s largest crypto-asset exchange, detected unauthorised transactions from its online wallets. The first estimate was around $3 billion; during the morning the company itself raised the total impact to around $6.3 billion. It is by far the largest crypto-asset theft on record: the previous record, the attack on Bybit in February 2025, was around $1.5 billion.
The figures are provisional and may change as the investigation progresses.
What is known
According to Binance’s initial investigation, the attacker gained access to an engineer’s compromised laptop and, from there, was able to order unauthorised transactions. The blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs has said the attack shares features with earlier thefts attributed to groups linked to North Korea, although no government has confirmed this.
Binance says it has frozen, together with other platforms and issuers, around $3 billion, and states that customer funds are safe because it will cover all losses from its own reserves. It has suspended withdrawals while it reviews the service and has spoken of around 48 hours before resuming them.
The market reaction
Bitcoin fell as low as about $76,400, its lowest level in six weeks, although the fall is not explained by the attack alone. Other cryptocurrencies and the shares of companies in the sector also fell.
What to bear in mind
A crypto-asset deposited on a platform is not in its owner’s hands: the platform holds it, and its security depends on the platform. In the European Union, the MiCA regulation requires authorised providers to hold their clients’ crypto-assets separately.
For anyone holding crypto-assets on an affected platform, it is useful to keep statements, transaction records and the company’s communications: they serve for any claim and for tax obligations, such as the income tax return or form 721 for virtual currencies held abroad. This information is of a general nature.
With crypto-assets, custody is part of the risk, not a detail.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
