Binance loses over $6 billion in largest crypto hack in history
North Korean hackers stole approximately $6 billion from Binance through a compromised employee laptop, marking the largest theft in cryptocurrency history. The incident has triggered a debate over centralized custody risks and the resilience of major exchanges.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a breach in which hackers stole between $6 billion and $6.3 billion in assets. The attack originated from a compromised laptop belonging to a software engineer or DevOps individual, allowing attackers to exploit a single vulnerability to trigger a cascade of withdrawal orders. The theft is more than four times larger than the previous record for a crypto hack. Reports attribute the attack to North Korean hackers, though the specific attribution varies slightly in detail across sources, with some emphasizing the state-sponsored nature of the group.
Binance stated that withdrawals are being gradually re-enabled and promised customers would not suffer losses, citing an emergency fund, though the size of this fund is not clearly visible in the company’s balance sheet. Approximately $3 billion of the stolen funds were immediately frozen in stablecoins by Circle and Tether, demonstrating the centralized control possible over certain digital assets. The remaining $3 billion is expected to be covered by Binance. Bitcoin’s price remained relatively stable, dropping only 2% initially and recovering to $78,000 by Sunday from a six-week low of $76,400 on Friday.
Joseph Shalom, CEO of Sharplink, argued that the incident will weigh on the industry for months, causing regulators and financial institutions to pause. He stated that the breach highlights a recurring vulnerability in centralized storage and will spark a necessary debate on decentralization. Shalom noted that Sharplink holds approximately $2 billion in ETH, stored entirely in US-domiciled qualified custodians using offline hardware security modules that require multi-signature approval. Analysts warn of a potential bank run if customer confidence erodes, highlighting the irony of centralized risks in a decentralized asset class.