Cryptocurrency exchange Binance suspends trading amid a suspected cyberattack now linked to North Korea

The world's largest cryptocurrency platform, Binance, confirmed on Thursday that it was investigating a potential security breach that resulted in an estimated $6.3 billion impact.

Analysts said the breach could amount to the largest-ever crypto heist

"It does look like a hack on Binance," said former company chief Changpeng Zhao, who remains a major shareholder.

Binance said it worked to freeze the affected assets and that it had located about $3 billion so far. It did not provide information about the remaining $3.3 billion.

"Binance will cover all hacking losses," co-founder Yi He said, without providing more details about the incident.

Some $3 billion (€2.7 billion) had been frozen in response to the suspected hack.

Binance 'reviewing' possible hack

"Rest assured that user funds are completely safe," a company spokesperson said.

"Our security teams are reviewing all relevant information with urgency, and we will provide updates through official Binance channels as soon as we have verified information," the company statement said.

"Binance’s initial investigation suggests that the security incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions," the company wrote. "We have found no evidence of any wallet private key leak."

The company, which is the world's largest platform in terms of daily crypto trading volume, suspended trading on certain products while the freezing came from cryptocurrency companies using the platform.

Tether froze around $1.6 billion in its USDT currency, according to CEO Paolo Ardoino, and Circle froze some $800 million-worth of USDC, boss Jeremy Allaire said.

Who is Binance ex-CEO Zhao?

The news of the possible hack sent Bitcoin's value tumbling by 3.2% on Thursday evening, dropping below $79,000.

Zhao, who founded the Binance platform in 2017, said "as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."

He stepped down as CEO after pleading guilty in 2023. to failing to prevent money laundering on his platform. US President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2025.

Zhao and Binance have been key supporters of cryptocurrency ventures by US President Donald Trump and his family.