Binance $6.3B Crypto Hack: $3B Frozen, Withdrawals Set to Resume

Binance is responding to what it estimates is a record $6.3 billion crypto hack, with about $3 billion in stolen assets frozen across multiple tokens. Affected assets include Tether (USDT), USDC, Ripple USD (RLUSD), World Liberty Financial USD (USD1), USDT0, Wrapped Beacon ETH, Tether Gold and Pax Gold. Deposits remain operational, while Binance expects withdrawals to resume as scheduled.

Co-CEO Richard Teng said Binance is targeting a return of withdrawals within 40 hours and plans to publish a proof-of-reserves report by Monday. The exchange has set aside more than $6.34 billion in company funds to cover losses, including $5 billion already held in the same tokens stolen in the incident. The frozen amount could rise as investigators trace additional assets.

According to Teng, the attacker used an EIP-7702 delegation to obtain execution authority over a Binance hot wallet, bypassing the exchange’s normal approval controls. The attacker also deployed a “self-destruct mechanism” to destroy tools and traces of the intrusion. Investigators have identified additional breach points beyond the initially suspected compromised engineer’s laptop. Cybersecurity analysts believe North Korea’s TraderTraitor group may be responsible, although that attribution remains unconfirmed.

Binance is working with the FBI to recover stolen funds. Aave also temporarily froze deposits and borrowing across its V3 and V4 markets before restoring both services; withdrawals and repayments remained available throughout, and founder Stani Kulechov said all positions stayed overcollateralized. Aave said its contracts were unaffected by the hack.