Binance Hit by Record $6.34 Billion Crypto Heist — and North Korea Is Reportedly Behind It

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency platform, lost $6.34 billion to hackers in a breach that lasted roughly 20 minutes on Friday, October 30. It’s the biggest crypto heist on record. Investigators at TRM Labs linked the attack to a North Korean hacking group known as TraderTraitor, according to reporting, and the entry point was reportedly a phishing scam that compromised an engineer’s laptop.

The fallout moved fast. Binance disabled withdrawals and deposits, then announced by Saturday that 90% of the lost assets had already been returned. The company also promised to automatically restore all remaining funds without requiring users to file claims or fill out forms, and services are being phased back online. That’s a huge relief for the millions of people who hold funds on the platform, though the incident still raises hard questions about how secure any centralized exchange really is.

Same day, separate attack: prediction market Polymarket was also breached, with about 700 users losing roughly $2.7 million. The takeaway for anyone holding crypto is simple. Turn on two-factor authentication, verify every“security alert”email before clicking, and think twice about how much you leave on an exchange. Have you checked your Binance account since Friday?