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Binance pauses withdrawals after $6.3 billion security breach

Binance estimates a $6.3 billion impact from a security breach and paused withdrawals during its review, while saying user funds are safe and it will cover losses.

BitCurrent Newsroom2 min read

Binance pauses withdrawals after $6.3 billion security breach

Crypto exchanges rely on automated systems to move customer assets, making access controls a critical line of defence. Binance says it paused withdrawals after a security incident with an estimated $6.3 billion impact.

  • Estimated impact: about $6.3 billion
  • Assets frozen on-chain: about $3 billion
  • Withdrawals: temporarily suspended during the security review

In its security incident update, Binance said its preliminary investigation points to a DevOps engineer’s compromised laptop. The attacker may have used access to a service container to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.

The exchange says it found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked. It says deposits continue to operate, and that it will cover losses with its SAFU Fund and company funds.

Did Binance halt trading?

Binance’s published update confirms a temporary withdrawal suspension, not a halt to trading. The exchange says it also revoked authorization for affected addresses and is working with law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to track the funds.

Axios’s report likewise describes the exchange suspending deposits and withdrawals, while citing Binance’s estimate of the incident’s impact and the amount frozen. Binance later clarified that deposits were unaffected.

Who carried out the attack?

That remains open. Binance says it is working to confirm the responsible parties and has not named a suspect in its update.

Axios reported that researchers from TRM Labs and Pangolin Intelligence suspected a North Korean hacking collective. That attribution is not confirmed by Binance, and the exchange says it will publish a technical post-mortem after its investigation verifies the facts.

What happens next?

Binance says it will publish an updated proof of reserves after remediation is complete. The estimate of about $3 billion frozen on-chain indicates that some assets may be recoverable, but the exchange has not confirmed how much it will ultimately retrieve.

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