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As it happened: Binance’s record $6.3B crypto hack
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- DeepHorus
Binance has disclosed a record cryptocurrency hack with an estimated total impact of about $6.3 billion, while confirming that roughly $3 billion in stolen assets has been frozen. The exchange said deposits were operating normally and withdrawals were expected to resume as scheduled. The incident marks one of the largest crypto security breaches to date and has triggered a multi-agency investigation.
Cybersecurity analysts suspect North Korea’s TraderTraitor group is behind the attack. Binance initially pointed to a potentially compromised engineer’s laptop but said investigators later uncovered additional breach points. Co-CEO Richard Teng said the attacker used an EIP-7702 delegation to gain execution authority over a hot wallet, bypassing normal approval controls.
Teng said the attacker deployed a “self-destruct mechanism” to destroy tools and traces, complicating tracing. Binance is aiming to resume withdrawals within 40 hours and publish a full proof-of-reserves report by Monday. It is also working with the FBI to recover assets.
Frozen assets include USDT, USDC, RLUSD, USD1, XUSD, WBETH, XAUT, PAXG, USDP and ARB. Binance said it has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses, including $5 billion already held in the same tokens stolen. A spokesperson said the $5 billion sits in exchange custody but declined to disclose wallet addresses.
Co-CEO Yi He said Binance was buying matching altcoins through over-the-counter deals and on exchanges ahead of an updated proof-of-reserves. She said SAFU and company holdings include substantial Bitcoin and Ether. Aave lifted a precautionary freeze across V3 and V4 markets after saying its contracts were unaffected.
Binance submits weekly company-fund reports to Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority under a pre-existing requirement. The verified frozen total could rise as investigators trace more assets. Withdrawals and the proof-of-reserves report are now key tests for restoring user confidence.
