The crypto world is in shock. Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, is suspected of being hacked on Thursday, 29 October 2026 (US evening). Binance immediately paused deposits and withdrawals, and loss estimates going around are in the billions of dollars.
If those numbers are confirmed, this could be the biggest crypto hack in history, far above Bybit's record of about US$1.4 billion in 2025. But a lot is still unconfirmed, so let me break down what we know so far.
What happened?
According to blockchain analysts, assets in Binance's hot wallets started moving suspiciously to outside addresses. Within less than an hour, one receiving address had reportedly collected over US$3 billion.
Binance confirmed to the media that it was investigating a "potential security issue" and suspended withdrawals on several networks as a precaution.
How much was lost?
Figures vary by source and are still changing:
- Blockaid: about US$3.3 billion in suspicious transfers
- Glassnode: about US$5.3 billion
- Chainalysis: about US$5.9 billion
- Binance itself reportedly estimated the impact at around US$6.3 billion (per CoinDesk)
Some analysts warn the bigger numbers may include unrelated transfers. A confirmed final total hasn't been published yet.
Binance says user funds are safe
Binance co-CEO Yi He said user funds are safe and that Binance will cover all hacking losses. According to CoinDesk, Binance plans to use its SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users) and company funds to cover the losses.
Binance also said it has found no evidence of any wallet private key leak, and that the incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop. The investigation is ongoing, and Binance has promised a full post-mortem once it's done.
What did CZ say?
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who stepped down as CEO in 2023 but remains the largest shareholder, posted on X that it "does look like a hack". He said he expects all customer funds to be fully covered.
Tether and Circle freeze billions
Interestingly, a lot of players moved fast to freeze the stolen funds:
- Tether: froze over 1.567 billion USDT
- Circle: froze over 800 million USDC, in coordination with law enforcement
- Others including Ripple, the Arbitrum Security Council and World Liberty Financial also reported freezes
According to a reported Binance update, about US$3 billion has been frozen. That figure hasn't been officially reconciled yet.
Who did it?
There's no official confirmation. TRM Labs says it has "high confidence" the attack is linked to North Korea's TraderTraitor group, and investigator ZachXBT named the Lazarus Group as the likely attacker. These are third-party assessments, not official findings.
Market impact
- Bitcoin: fell about 4.8% to below US$77,000
- Ether: fell about 5.7%
- BNB: fell about 8%
- About US$1.4 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours (Coinglass), not all of it caused by the Binance incident
When can you withdraw again?
No date yet. Binance says withdrawals will resume once the security issue is fully resolved. Binance also warned users to watch out for scams and unofficial links, and to only follow updates from official channels.
For users in Malaysia
Remember, Binance isn't a registered platform in Malaysia. The Securities Commission (SC) took enforcement action against Binance in 2021 for operating without registration. If you have assets there, follow updates from Binance's official channels and don't click random links claiming they can "help you withdraw".
I'll update this once there's official confirmation. This article isn't investment advice. Stay safe and protect your assets. 馃檹
Sources: TechCrunch, CoinDesk, Bitcoin.com News, Cointelegraph. Images from Wikimedia Commons: Satheesh Sankaran (cover and Bitcoin, CC BY 2.0), Web Summit (CC BY 2.0), Aevozer (CC BY-SA 4.0).
