Key TakeawaysBinance lost about $6.3 billion across 10 blockchains on October 29, 2026, in the largest crypto theft on record. The FBI attributed it to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.About $3 billiKey TakeawaysBinance lost about $6.3 billion across 10 blockchains on October 29, 2026, in the largest crypto theft on record. The FBI attributed it to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.About $3 billi

Binance Hack Explained: Where the $6.3 Billion Went and Is Binance Safe Now?

#Industry Perspectives

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Author: OoJae

2026/11/03 21:19

Key Takeaways

Binance lost about $6.3 billion across 10 blockchains on October 29, 2026, in the largest crypto theft on record. The FBI attributed it to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
About $3 billion in stolen stablecoins was frozen by Tether, Circle and partners, but blockchain data firm Bitquery found about $3.1 billion still sitting in attacker wallets as of October 31.
Binance says it has replaced about 95% of the stolen assets with its own funds and completed a new proof of reserves showing 1:1 backing for 10 major tokens, including BTC, ETH and USDT.
Binance's tracked on-chain assets fell by about $16.5 billion from October 29 to November 2, a mix of withdrawals, falling prices and the hack itself, though daily net outflows have more than halved from their peak.
The incident is a reminder to check an exchange's reserves, use withdrawal allowlists and keep long-term holdings in self-custody.

Five days after the biggest crypto heist in history, the questions have shifted to "where is the money now?" and "is Binance safe?" Here is a clear explanation of how the Binance hack happened, where the stolen funds have gone, what Binance has done to cover the losses and what traders can do to protect their own assets.

How the Binance Hack Happened

The attack began at about 4:05 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 29, on the XRP Ledger, according to a timeline compiled on Wikipedia from media reports. Attacks on Ethereum and Bitcoin followed at about 4:20 p.m., and the main drain across 10 blockchains took roughly 20 minutes.

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng described it as a "complex attack" involving a compromised employee laptop and malware designed to delete evidence. On-chain investigators said the attackers exploited Binance's internal systems and wallet-signing process to move funds out of its hot wallets. Binance has said there is no confirmed evidence that private keys were exposed.

On October 31, the FBI attributed the theft to TraderTraitor, a North Korea-linked group that is often associated with the Lazarus Group. It is the same group the FBI blamed for the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, making the Binance attack more than four times larger.

What Was Stolen

Asset or Chain	Approx. Amount Stolen
Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens	About $3.8 billion
Bitcoin	18,270 BTC, about $1.5 billion
TRON	About $628 million
XRP	About $296 million
Solana	About $96 million

Note: Figures are approximate and based on a breakdown compiled from media and on-chain reports. The total stolen is estimated at about $6.3 billion.

Where Is the Stolen Money Now?

Frozen Funds

Stablecoin issuers moved quickly. On October 29, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Tether had frozen more than 1.567 billion USDT, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said Circle had frozen more than 800 million USDC in coordination with law enforcement. In total, about $3 billion of the stolen funds has been frozen by issuers or partners, according to reports compiled on Wikipedia.

Funds Still With the Attackers

According to Bitquery's October 31 investigation, reported by Finbold, about $3.1 billion was still sitting largely untouched in the attacker's wallets, mostly in ETH and BTC. Several addresses had made no outgoing transactions, and there was no evidence that the funds had reached centralized exchange deposit addresses or mixers. One address alone holds about 195,460 ETH.

Laundering So Far

Some funds are already on the move. On-chain analyst SomaXBT mapped more than 12,000 attacker wallets and found that about $242 million moved through Tron-related channels within two days of the hack. The funds passed through services including THORChain, Chainflip, Relay and Symbiosis, and about $41.7 million was routed through Bitget Wallet. Tether froze about $378.7 million in USDT along these routes, pushing the attackers toward other methods.

The FBI said the attackers were laundering funds mainly by converting them into Ether and warned that they would likely keep using DeFi protocols and instant swap services. The FBI, the Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation have urged crypto businesses to block transactions linked to the attacker's addresses.

Is Binance Safe Now?

Reimbursement

Binance said it would "bear the financial impact of the stolen funds" so users would not lose money. It set aside $6.34 billion from its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), a Bitcoin reserve, part of its Futures Insurance Fund and its corporate treasury. By November 1, it had replaced about 95% of the affected assets. The remaining 5% is mainly less liquid tokens that Binance is still buying through exchanges and over-the-counter desks.

Proof of Reserves

On November 2, Binance said it had completed its latest zero-knowledge proof of reserves verification, showing that user balances are backed 1:1 for 10 assets: BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC. Another reserve snapshot is planned for Wednesday, November 4, and co-CEO Yi He said a full proof takes about 40 to 50 hours to generate.

Withdrawals and Outflows

Withdrawals reopened in phases on November 1, starting with 15 networks and assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain and the XRP Ledger. Binance expects to restore more networks and assets from November 3. In the first 9.5 hours, users withdrew about $4.65 billion and deposited about $1.01 billion, a net outflow of about $3.64 billion, or about 2.1% of Binance's roughly $171 billion in customer assets.

DefiLlama data shows Binance's tracked on-chain assets fell from about $144.9 billion on October 29 to about $128.3 billion early on November 2, a drop of about 12%. That figure includes falling crypto prices and the stolen funds, not only withdrawals. Daily net outflows later fell to about $3.29 billion, more than 50% below their peak of roughly $7 billion. Former CEO Changpeng Zhao said on X that "98% choose to stay."

StoneX analysts said the response from issuers, DeFi protocols and Binance was faster and better coordinated than the industry had managed in past hacks. However, some assets and networks are still being restored, so users should follow official Binance updates for specific assets.

How the Hack Affected the Crypto Market

The hack hit during an already fragile week. Bitcoin fell about 5% to a low near $76,326 on October 30 as about $1.5 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, and US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $643.2 million in outflows the same day. Shares of Coinbase and Robinhood also declined. Since Binance reopened withdrawals, the market has stabilized, with Bitcoin trading near $78,000.

Follow live prices on the BTC/USDT and BNB/USDT charts.

How to Keep Your Crypto Safe on Any Exchange

The Binance hack shows that even the largest platforms can be targeted by state-backed attackers. A few habits can reduce your risk:

Check proof of reserves: Choose exchanges that publish regular, independently verified reserves. MEXC publishes a monthly Proof of Reserves audited by Hacken. Its October 2026 report showed reserve ratios of 294% for BTC, 122% for USDT, 115% for USDC and 111% for ETH.

Look for user protection funds: MEXC's Guardian Fund holds over 100 million USDT and 2,000 BTC to protect users in serious security incidents.

Use self-custody for long-term holdings: Keep only what you trade on exchanges and move long-term savings to a wallet you control.

Turn on security features: Use two-factor authentication, anti-phishing codes and withdrawal address allowlists.

Verify every address and ignore unsolicited messages: Reports flagged address poisoning attempts around the attacker's wallets, and scammers often pose as support staff after major incidents.

Conclusion: A Record Hack and a Test of Trust

The $6.3 billion Binance hack is the largest crypto theft ever recorded, and the story is not over. Around half of the stolen value is frozen or sitting idle, but the attackers are already moving funds through DeFi and cross-chain services, and every large transfer could rattle the market.

Binance's fast reimbursement, new proof of reserves and phased reopening have so far limited the damage. For users everywhere, the lesson is simple: check how your exchange protects assets and keep long-term holdings in self-custody.

Disclaimer: This content is for educational and reference purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. Digital asset investments carry high risk. Please evaluate carefully and assume full responsibility for your own decisions.

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