Binance says it will cover losses from record $6.3 billion crypto heist linked to North Korea
Binance disclosed that hackers stole approximately $6.3 billion in digital assets from the cryptocurrency exchange, in an incident widely described as the largest crypto heist on record. The exchange paused withdrawals while responding to the breach, reported freezing around $3 billion in impacted assets and saying that user funds remained safe.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation attributed the theft to actors connected to North Korea, labeling the operation “TraderTraitor.” According to the FBI, those actors converted stolen tokens into Ethereum and were preparing to launder the funds further. The agency published few additional details or evidence supporting the attribution. TechCrunch reported that the hackers may have gained access through an employee’s laptop.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the exchange had already replenished or replaced about 90 percent of the affected assets and intended to cover the remaining 10 percent itself. The outstanding portion consisted of less-liquid tokens that could take longer for Binance to acquire, although the company said it was on track to resume withdrawals on Sunday.
The exchange also said it had reserved more than $6.34 billion in company funds for the incident, beyond its emergency reserve fund. The combination of a record-scale theft, an alleged insider-device compromise and a government attribution illustrates how the incident spans exchange security, operational resilience and cross-border crypto laundering investigations.