$6.3 billion Binance hack was likely work of North Korea, blockchain intel firms say

October 30, 2026 / 7:26 AM EDT / CBS/AP

A U.S.-based blockchain intelligence firm says a North Korean unit was likely behind the hack that impacted more than $6 billion on Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange.

Binance said it worked with blockchain partners to freeze roughly $3 billion in affected assets.

The cryptocurrency exchange said Friday that deposits were unaffected, while withdrawals were suspended and are expected to resume in the next day or two. It said it will cover all losses.

The company said on social media Friday that an initial investigation suggested the incident may have involved a compromised laptop, but that a subsequent investigation uncovered additional "points of breach."

TRM, in a post on its website Thursday, attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, which it described as North Korea's elite hacking unit. "We make this judgment with high confidence," the firm said.

"An attacker moved approximately USD 6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on ten blockchains, most of it in about 20 minutes," TRM said. That would make the hack the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, it said.

In February last year, another cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit, suffered a $1.5 billion hit when it was hacked. The FBI…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/moneywatch/