THE VAULT IS OPEN! Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has been hit by what is believed to be the largest crypto hack ever, at $6.3bn (£4.7bn), the BBC reported.
How did they get in? Co-chief executive Richard Teng says the initial investigation suggests it “may have started with a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop,” which gave an attacker access to a service container, “where they submitted unauthorised withdrawal transactions.” He insists it “was not a simple ‘one-click’ action.”
The hit landed on the global exchange, Binance.com. Binance.us says it wasn’t affected. All deposits and withdrawals were suspended as a precaution, and Binance says it will cover all losses from its emergency reserve and company funds. Around $3bn has reportedly been located so far, and the exchange says it is “still on track” to resume withdrawals in 45 hours.
Whodunit? Nobody has claimed it. TRM Labs says several elements resemble earlier attacks linked to North Korea, including the $1.5bn ByBit hack in 2025, tied to the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor. That isn’t confirmed, and North Korea has always denied involvement.
“You can build a vault with mathematical firewalls, but if the individual holding the keys can be duped, the vault is opened,” said Dr Clive Summerfield of biometrics security firm FARx. Experts warn users to ignore emails and fake “support” accounts urging them to move crypto to a “safe” wallet.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.
Sources: BBC News
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