Binance Reportedly Hacked as Attackers Steal Up to $5.7 Billion in Cryptocurrency

Binance has suspended deposits and withdrawals due to a security incident. Early estimates from blockchain tracking indicated that attackers may have drained as much as $5.7 billion in cryptocurrency.

The exchange has committed to covering all losses while investigators work to trace the transactions and coordinate asset freezes throughout the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

In its official statement, Binance said security teams were conducting checks and working with law enforcement. “Binance will cover all losses,” the company said, adding that user funds remained safe and that it would conduct a full postmortem after the investigation.

Binance Reportedly Hacked

A subsequent Binance update said preliminary findings indicated a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop may have enabled an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. That account remains preliminary, rather than a completed forensic determination of the intrusion chain.

The disclosure shifts attention toward operational infrastructure and withdrawal authorization. However, Binance has not publicly detailed the initial infection method, exploited vulnerability, persistence mechanism, or credentials involved. The available statement does not establish whether phishing, malware, or another technique compromised the engineer’s endpoint.

Earlier reporting described suspicious transfers from internet-connected hot wallets. These wallets support exchange transactions but differ from offline storage. Binance previously suffered a separate Bitcoin hot-wallet breach, so distinguishing historical incidents from this developing investigation matters.

The $5.7 billion figure represents an early estimate, not a settled accounting. Later reporting cited higher estimates, including approximately $5.9 billion from Chainalysis and around $6.3 billion attributed to Binance, underscoring the investigation’s rapidly changing scope.

Binance’s public updates also increased the verified frozen amount from $2.54 billion to approximately $3 billion. Frozen assets should not be confused with the total stolen or funds already returned to the exchange.

Stablecoin issuers Tether and Circle helped contain the theft, with reported freezes exceeding $1.57 billion in USDT and $800 million in USDC, respectively. These interventions are part of a broader effort to restrict the movement of affected assets.

The incident follows other major exchange thefts, including the Bybit cryptocurrency breach. However, investigators have not established a shared attacker or identical exploitation method. Comparisons alone cannot support attribution.

Binance urged users to rely exclusively on official channels. Its spokesperson separately warned against unofficial links, messages, and requests for account information. At the same time, the exchange continues security checks and prepares its promised postmortem.

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