Binance freezes $3 billion amid $6.3 billion crypto breach

Binance confirmed a security breach affecting approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency on October 30, the largest incident in the exchange’s history. The company stated that approximately $3 billion in affected assets had been frozen on-chain through coordination with blockchain partners.

The incident occurred on October 30, when Binance temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals at approximately 00:30 GMT. The exchange, identified as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, said its teams were conducting security checks, freezing funds, and coordinating with law enforcement agencies.

Scale of the Breach and Asset Freezes

The estimated impact of the breach is more than four times the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit in February 2025. That previous attack, which was attributed to North Korean-linked hackers, had set the benchmark for the largest cryptocurrency theft. However, the $6.3 billion figure represents the estimated assets affected by the current incident, not necessarily the final loss. Investigators are still tracing funds and pursuing additional freezes to determine the exact amount of assets compromised.

Binance stated that the amount of frozen assets could rise as law enforcement agencies, token issuers, blockchain intelligence firms, and other partners continue tracing the funds. The exchange emphasized that the $3 billion frozen on-chain is a preliminary figure and that the total value of affected assets remains under assessment.

Investigation Findings and Financial Coverage

Binance’s preliminary investigation pointed to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. According to the exchange, that access allowed an unauthorized party to enter a service container and submit withdrawal transactions through internal infrastructure. Investigators found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked, indicating that the breach was likely limited to the specific internal access point rather than a broader compromise of the exchange’s core security architecture.

In its security incident update, Binance pledged to cover any losses using its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, and company funds. This commitment addresses who would bear the financial impact of the breach, ensuring that customer balances are protected despite the security incident. Recovering the affected assets and restoring normal operations remain separate parts of the response, with the exchange continuing to work with partners to mitigate the damage.