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Binance says hot-wallet breach caused $6.3 billion loss

Binance says attackers stole about $6.3 billion from hot wallets; withdrawals have resumed in phases, but the breach sequence remains under investigation.

BitCurrent Newsroom2 min read

Binance says hot-wallet breach caused $6.3 billion loss

Binance’s hot wallets were compromised on October 29, the exchange said, in a security incident it now values at about $6.3 billion. The breach put a large amount of customer-facing crypto infrastructure at risk, though Binance says it will absorb the financial impact.

  • Estimated loss: about $6.3 billion in token assets.
  • Assets frozen on-chain: about $3 billion.
  • Replenishment: Binance says it has covered about 95% of the impacted amount.
  • Withdrawal access: resuming in phases since November 1.

In its October 30 incident update, Binance said the compromised hot wallets led to unauthorized withdrawals at about 20:05 UTC on October 29. The exchange said it had set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds and would cover the stolen assets through its Secure Asset Fund for Users and corporate treasury.

How did the attackers get access?

Binance’s initial investigation pointed to a possible compromise of a DevOps engineer’s laptop, which may have let an attacker access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawals. The exchange later said investigators had found additional points of breach.

Binance said it had found no evidence that wallet private keys were leaked. The full attack sequence and contributing factors remain under investigation, and the exchange has said it plans to publish a technical post-incident report.

What has Binance done since the breach?

Binance says it worked with law enforcement, blockchain intelligence firms, asset issuers and industry partners to trace and freeze affected assets. About $3 billion had been frozen on-chain by its October 30 update.

In its November 1 recovery update, Binance said it had replenished about 95% of the impacted amount and was resuming withdrawals in phases. Deposits remained open, and the exchange said withdrawal access would return progressively as it completed security checks.

The remaining questions concern how the breach unfolded and whether more assets can be recovered. Binance says users will not bear the financial loss; its technical investigation and recovery efforts continue.

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