Binance freezes billions after North Korean hackers steal up to $8.9 billion

North Korean hackers accessed Binance wallets on ten blockchains and moved most of the stolen funds within roughly 20 minutes, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis. Binance said it has frozen about $3 billion of the affected assets and that co-founder Yi He pledged the company would cover all hacking losses. The exchange did not provide an update on the remaining $3.3 billion.

The breach is believed to have begun with a compromised laptop belonging to a Binance engineer, allowing unauthorized withdrawals. Binance suspended all deposits and withdrawals while its security teams investigate and work with law-enforcement partners.

The hack triggered a sharp market reaction, with Bitcoin falling more than 3 percent to a six-week low of $76,368 and ether dropping over 3 percent to $2,178. Analysts said the incident could be the largest crypto theft on record and may dampen investor risk appetite for assets held on centralized exchanges.

"It’s the biggest hack in history," said Aravind Srinivasan, head of GSR’s systematic OTC business.

"It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralised exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks," said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group.

Binance, which reported $162.8 billion in assets under custody in its 2025 annual report, maintains a Secure Asset Fund in bitcoin to protect user funds. Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle froze $1.57 billion and $800 million respectively of assets linked to the hack.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said it worked with custodian BitGo to freeze stolen funds. The incident follows a series of large crypto thefts, including a $2.9 billion loss across 150 attacks last year and a $350 million breach at Bitget in September.