Crypto platform Binance confirms $6.3 bln hack

NEW YORK

Cryptocurrency platform Binance said it had fallen victim to a major hack that hit around $6.3 billion in funds, with about half that amount frozen to prevent a massive theft.

The company, the world's largest crypto exchange by daily trading volumes, posted a series of sometimes contradictory messages on X, insisting that "user funds are completely safe" but also saying it would "cover all losses."

The company later said on its X account for Latin America that "the total estimated impact is around $6.3 billion."

"We have worked with blockchain partners to freeze the affected assets, with ~$3 billion frozen on-chain so far," it added.

That would be four times the amount impacted in what had been the biggest-ever cyberattack of its kind to date: $1.5 billion taken in February last year from the Bybit platform, which was attributed to hackers affiliated with North Korea.

At about 0030 GMT on Oct. 30, Binance said all deposits and withdrawals had been "temporarily suspended while our team conducts security checks, freezes funds and works with law enforcement."

"This figure may continue to increase as our teams work closely with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain intelligence firms and industry partners to trace and freeze additional assets," the company said.

The company's statement on X said an initial investigation suggested the hack involved a compromised laptop belonging to a "DevOps engineer," allowing the unauthorized party to access a "service container" and execute unauthorized withdrawal transactions.

"We have found no evidence of any private key leaks from wallets," Binance said.

For several hours before Binance confirmed the attack, industry observers said hackers had managed to reach the platform.

The prices of most major cryptocurrencies fell on news of the cyberattack, except for the stablecoins, which by definition can only fluctuate within tight margins.