Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said a security breach had resulted in an estimated $6.3 billion impact, which analysts said could make it the biggest crypto heist on record and prompt investors to reconsider the risks of holding digital assets.

The exchange said it had worked with partners to freeze about $3 billion of the affected assets. Binance did not provide an update on the remaining $3.3 billion, leaving open how much of it might still be traced or recovered. Co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses.”

An initial investigation indicated that the breach may have begun with a laptop belonging to one of Binance’s engineers being hacked. The compromise enabled an attacker to access one of the exchange’s systems and make unauthorized withdrawals, Binance said.

Markets react

Markets reacted immediately during early Asian trading on Friday. Bitcoin fell more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368, while ether dropped more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178.

BNB, a token originally launched as Binance Coin and used to pay fees on Binance, was down 5% over the previous 24 hours at $709.70, according to market aggregator CoinGecko. Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase Global fell 4.8%, while shares of bitcoin buyer Strategy declined nearly 6% in extended US trading.

The incident could represent the world’s biggest crypto heist, according to analytics firm Chainalysis and other industry experts.

“It’s the biggest hack in history,” said Aravind Srinivasan, head of the systematic over-the-counter business at large crypto market maker GSR.

Analysts said the breach could have broader implications for the cryptocurrency industry, which had already faced pressure from higher US interest rates and weaker demand from exchange-traded fund buyers.

“It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralized exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks,” said Tim Sun, a senior researcher at Hong Kong-based HashKey Group.

Binance allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets. It has 335 million registered users globally and held about $162.8 billion in assets under custody, according to its 2025 annual report. The estimated impact is equivalent to just under 4% of that custody total.

“User funds remain safe,” Binance said in a statement. “As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our security teams conduct checks, secure wallet infrastructure, and trace affected assets, with the close support of our law enforcement and industry partners.”

Binance secure asset fund

Binance operates a secure asset fund for users, a reserve held entirely in bitcoin that is intended to protect user assets in the event of security breaches, according to the exchange’s website.

“It’s becoming very hard to counter hacks as AI can find vulnerabilities faster than you can fix them,” said Bernardo Brites, CEO of Trace Finance, a payments and stablecoin infrastructure company.

“My view is that users will move away from smaller and medium-sized exchanges, (it is) becoming too risky to park your money somewhere that couldn’t cover a hack of meaningful size,” Brites said.

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle said it had frozen more than $800 million. The actions show how stolen funds can be immobilized when they pass through tokens or custodians whose operators are able to freeze them.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said on Thursday that it had worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in what it described as a Binance hack.

Yi said that $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen. Crypto company Ripple also froze roughly $200 million in funds, Yi said.

Jack McDonald, Ripple’s senior vice president of stablecoins, said the company was closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance, freezing affected funds and coordinating with relevant parties.

Incident adds to crypto thefts

Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor.

The incident adds to a series of crypto thefts. Attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks last year, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said roughly $350 million in crypto had been stolen from its platform, highlighting the industry’s vulnerability to hackers.

Authorities have warned that organized crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.

Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident. Coinbase said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.

In an unrelated incident earlier on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading following a security incident involving a third-party provider. It later resumed trading and said it would fully reimburse affected traders.

Attention will now focus on updates from Binance’s investigation, whether more stolen funds are frozen as tracing continues, and when the exchange lifts its temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals.

— Reuters