Binance hack update: Will you lose your Bitcoin? Who stole the money, where has the stolen $6.3 billion gone, and how much has been recovered?

Binance hacked: The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has suffered a massive security breach in which hackers moved approximately $6.3 billion worth of digital assets from its wallets. The attack, which took place on October 29, is being described as the biggest cryptocurrency theft in history. The scale of the incident has raised concerns among cryptocurrency investors. Blockchain investigators have linked the attack to North Korea, while Binance says it has managed to freeze a substantial portion of the affected assets. The incident raises an important question for millions of people who hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on Binance: Could they lose their money because of the hack?

Binance has assured customers that their funds are safe and that it will cover all losses arising from the incident. The exchange has also been working with blockchain companies, cryptocurrency issuers and law enforcement agencies to trace and recover the stolen assets.

Will you lose your Bitcoin if Binance gets hacked?

This is perhaps the biggest concern for Binance customers following the incident. The short answer is that customers do not automatically lose their Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency because of this security breach.


Binance has repeatedly assured users that their funds are safe. The exchange has also promised to cover all losses arising from the incident using its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) and its own funds. The company has not reported evidence that customers' individual account passwords or wallet private keys were leaked in the incident. However, the attack has raised questions about how cryptocurrency exchanges store and protect customer assets.

Most large exchanges use hot wallets to process transactions and withdrawals. These wallets remain connected to the internet, making them convenient for everyday operations but also potential targets for cyberattacks. Cold wallets, on the other hand, are kept offline and are generally less exposed to online attacks. For investors, the incident is a reminder that holding cryptocurrency on an exchange carries a different set of risks from holding it in a personal wallet.

Customers should also be aware that Binance temporarily suspended withdrawals on several networks while it investigated the incident and strengthened its security systems. The exchange said deposits were unaffected and withdrawals were expected to resume within the next day or two.

Binance's $1 billion SAFU fund: Is it enough to cover the losses?

Binance maintains a Secure Asset Fund for Users, commonly known as SAFU, to protect customers in exceptional circumstances. The fund is worth approximately $1 billion and is designed to provide an additional layer of protection for users.However, the estimated $6.3 billion impact of the latest incident is significantly higher than the fund's reported value.

Binance has therefore said it will also use its own resources to cover the losses. This means customers are not expected to bear the financial burden of the incident, according to the exchange's assurance.

The next important development will be Binance's updated proof-of-reserves report, which should help investors assess the exchange's asset backing following the incident.

Who hacked Binance and stole $6.3 billion?

Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, a hacking unit associated with North Korea. The firm said it reached this conclusion with high confidence after examining on-chain transactions and other intelligence. According to TRM Labs, the attacker moved approximately $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets across 10 different blockchain networks. Most of the transfers took place within around 20 minutes.

TraderTraitor is a North Korean hacking operation known for targeting cryptocurrency platforms and digital asset companies. The group has been linked to several major cryptocurrency thefts. The suspected involvement of North Korean hackers is particularly significant because the country has repeatedly been accused of using cyberattacks to generate funds. Its hacking operations have targeted cryptocurrency exchanges, financial institutions and blockchain projects.

The group was also linked to the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, which was previously considered the biggest cryptocurrency theft on record. Binance has not independently confirmed the identity of the attackers. The exchange is cooperating with investigators to establish exactly who was responsible.

How did hackers steal $6.3 billion from Binance?

Binance's initial investigation suggested that the attack may have involved a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer. According to the exchange, the attacker may have used access obtained through the laptop to enter a service container and submit unauthorised withdrawal transactions.

However, the investigation later identified additional points of breach. Binance said there was no evidence that its wallet private keys had been leaked. TRM Labs' technical analysis pointed to a possible compromise of the exchange's hot-wallet signing infrastructure. On the Ethereum network, the attacker used a mechanism that allowed a Binance wallet to delegate transaction authority to malicious code.

The attack was not limited to Ethereum. Binance wallets on Bitcoin, Tron, Solana, XRP Ledger and several other networks also transferred funds to addresses controlled by the attacker. The speed of the operation was particularly striking. Most of the $6.36 billion was moved within approximately 20 minutes, suggesting that the attackers had prepared the operation well in advance.

Which cryptocurrencies were stolen in the Binance hack?

The attack affected 10 blockchain networks and involved several major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, XRP and Solana. TRM Labs identified the following major asset movements in its investigation:

Cryptocurrency	Amount moved	Estimated value at the time
Bitcoin (BTC)	18,270 BTC	$1.47 billion
Ethereum (ETH) and other Ethereum-based assets	Multiple tokens	$3.79 billion
Tether (USDT) on Tron	612.7 million USDT	Part of $628 million Tron outflows
XRP	233.46 million XRP	$296 million
Solana (SOL)	970,500 SOL	$96 million
TRX	46.4 million TRX	Included in Tron outflows

The Ethereum-related outflows included approximately 200,630 ETH, 1.875 billion USDT, 823 million USDC and 88.5 million RLUSD, along with several other tokens.

The attack also affected assets on Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Avalanche and Polygon. The figures represent transfers traced from Binance-attributed wallets. They should not be interpreted as the amount of each cryptocurrency that remains unrecovered. Several stablecoin balances have since been frozen.

Where has the stolen $6.3 billion gone?

The stolen cryptocurrency was transferred to wallets controlled by the attackers across multiple blockchain networks. Investigators have been tracking these transactions to identify the movement of funds and prevent further transfers. According to TRM Labs, approximately $2.7 billion worth of assets had been frozen by cryptocurrency issuers and other blockchain partners by October 30.

This means a substantial portion of the stolen assets has been identified and immobilised. However, freezing cryptocurrency does not necessarily mean the money has been returned to Binance or its customers. The attackers also moved some of the assets between wallets and attempted to convert certain holdings into other cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin and Ethereum account for a significant part of the remaining assets. According to TRM Labs, the attacker still held more than 420,000 Ethereum and approximately 18,270 Bitcoin, worth around $2.4 billion at the time of its assessment. These assets are particularly difficult to freeze because Bitcoin and Ethereum do not have a central issuer that can simply blacklist a wallet.

The stolen Bitcoin was split across 19 wallets. According to a CoinDesk analysis, 17 of these wallets held 1,000 Bitcoin each, while the remaining two held approximately 832.5 Bitcoin and 437.7 Bitcoin. None of the 19 wallets had transferred the coins onwards at the time of the report. Investigators are continuing to monitor the wallets and transactions to determine whether the hackers attempt to move or convert the remaining assets.

How much money has been recovered from the Binance hack?

Binance and its partners have managed to freeze approximately $2.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency linked to the incident, according to TRM Labs' October 30 assessment. Several major cryptocurrency companies participated in the effort.

Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin, froze more than 1.567 billion USDT associated with the incident. Circle, which issues USDC, froze approximately $800 million to $823 million.

Ripple and World Liberty Financial also took action to freeze assets connected to the attack. The Arbitrum Security Council separately froze cryptocurrency on its network.

These actions have made it difficult for the hackers to access or transfer a significant portion of the stolen stablecoins. However, there is an important difference between frozen and recovered money. Frozen assets remain restricted and may require further investigation and legal procedures before they can be returned to their rightful owners.

As of October 30, approximately $2.7 billion had been frozen, but the actual amount returned to Binance or its customers had not been established. The status of the remaining assets, worth billions of dollars, is still being investigated.