In what is being called the largest crypto hack in history, attackers stole approximately $6.4 billion from Binance on Thursday. The breach surpassed the previous record, the $1.5 billion Bybit heist in February 2025, by more than four times. Binance has pledged to cover all losses using company funds and its emergency reserve, which exceeds $6.34 billion.
The attack began around 4:05 p.m. ET on Thursday, targeting Binance’s hot wallets across roughly 10 blockchains. Most of the funds were drained within about 20 minutes. Initial investigations pointed to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, but Binance later revealed a more complex attack process involving multiple breach points. The attacker also used a self-destruct mechanism to erase traces.
On Ethereum, the hacker exploited EIP-7702, a feature introduced in 2025, to turn a Binance hot wallet into a “sweeper” contract and drain its assets. Binance CEO Richard Teng confirmed that the delegation bypassed normal approval controls. Both TRM Labs and Chainalysis attributed the hack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean state-linked group also responsible for the Bybit heist.
Binance has frozen withdrawals to rebuild and retest its systems, aiming to restore them by Sunday and publish a complete proof of reserves by Monday. Binance is cooperating with global law enforcement, including the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service.