Cryptocurrency giant Binance confirms on Thursday that $6.3bn (£4.7bn) of digital assets have been impacted by what is thought to be the biggest crypto hack on record.
Initial investigations suggest the attack may have stemmed from an engineer’s laptop that had been compromised, which allowed an attacker to make unauthorised withdrawals. Around half of the affected assets have since been frozen, while recovery efforts continue.
The incident surpasses the previous record crypto hack, the $1.5bn hack on Bybit in 2025, and has been linked by multiple blockchain analytic firms to a North Korean hacking unit called TraderTraitor.
Andy Ward, SVP International at Absolute Security commented: “A cyberattack of this level is a matter of if, not when, particularly alongside the rise of AI. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and widespread as ever, and it is likely only a matter of time before an even larger hack, with even greater financial fallout, makes headlines.”
“It is essential that businesses are prioritising cyber resilience to minimise disruption and potential downtime. Threats are evolving faster than ever, and our research reveals that endpoint security software fails to protect devices nearly 21 per cent of the time. Organisations must implement real-time visibility into their IT environments to identify vulnerabilities and respond to these incidents when they occur.
Lots of companies that deal with cryptocurrencies have moved quickly to freeze assets linked to the attack. At the same time, law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity experts continue to work together to identify those responsible and recover the remaining funds.
The incident has reignited fears about the growing sophistication of cyberattacks targeting the crypto sector and the security risks posed by compromised devices within trusted environments.
