Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that hackers had stolen some $6 billion in digital coins in what could be the biggest crypto heist in history.
The company said that it had halted withdrawals in response and that customers would get lost money back. While much about the hack is still unknown, details of how it happened and who might be responsible are beginning to come into focus.
Here’s what to know about the incident.
What is Binance?
Binance is a marketplace for digital coins where customers can buy Bitcoin, Ether and other types of cryptocurrency. The platform was created in 2017. As of this summer, it had more than 320 million users , according to the company.
Like many crypto exchanges, Binance also allows customers to store their holdings with the expectation that it will keep their funds safe.
Much of Binance’s success was built on offering risky services, like allowing investors to borrow money to place bets on the price of cryptocurrencies. It also drew in customers by allowing them to trade anonymously, and for several years did not collect basic information that traditional companies require to deter financial crime.
Binance has also weathered years of legal and regulatory problems. In 2023, the company pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws and paid $4.3 billion in penalties to the U.S. government. The company’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to four months in federal prison. After completing his sentence, he moved to the United Arab Emirates.
In October 2025, Mr. Zhao was pardoned by President Trump. Binance has a business relationship with the Trump family crypto business, World Liberty Financial, a major source of the president’s wealth.
What happened in the hack?
The specifics of the attack are still being established. TRM Labs, a crypto research firm, said it appeared to be the work of TraderTraitor, North Korea’s “elite hacking unit.”
TRM Labs said that the hack began on Thursday at around 4 p.m. Eastern time, when an attacker moved more than $6 billion out of Binance wallets, most of it in just about 20 minutes. A second wave occurred around two hours later.
Binance initially said that the hackers might have compromised an engineer’s laptop, leading to unauthorized withdrawals. But in an update on social media on Friday, the company said that had identified “additional points of breach.” It did not provide more details.
Binance said it was working with law enforcement. TRM Labs said TraderTraitor was also behind a February 2025 hack of Bybit, another crypto exchange. In that attack, Bybit lost $1.5 billion, which at the time was the largest ever crypto heist.
Will people get their money back?
Binance said that it would cover any customer losses using its company funds, which it had already set aside. It also said in a statement Friday that it had already begun “recovering affected assets for users,” without providing more detail.
Binance said that it had worked with partners in the industry to freeze around $3 billion in funds affected by the hack to prevent the hackers from selling them off. Tether, a major crypto platform, said it had frozen more than $1.5 billion in crypto, while Circle, another firm, said it had frozen more than $800 million.
How has Bitcoin’s price been affected?
Binance plays a crucial role in the crypto industry, and news of the hack may affect confidence in cryptocurrencies and the exchanges where they are traded.
The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, dropped several percentage points, to below $80,000. Its value, however, remained well above lows over the summer, when Bitcoin traded for as little as $59,000.
