Overview
- Blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs reported that attackers moved roughly $6.36 billion from Binance wallets in about 20 minutes on Oct. 29, which researchers called the largest on‑chain theft recorded.
- Binance paused deposits and withdrawals, revoked affected address authorizations and said it has frozen more than $3 billion while promising to reimburse users and working with law enforcement.
- The exchange says the breach began when a DevOps engineer’s laptop was compromised, allowing attackers to access service containers and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions.
- Stablecoin issuers Circle, Tether and Ripple have frozen about $2.7 billion in tokens linked to the transfers, but analysts warn freezes do not immediately return funds to victims.
- Forensics and tracing work continue and estimates of total losses vary by firm; TRM says attackers still control roughly $2.4 billion that will be hard to freeze, creating major uncertainty about how much can be recovered and how users will be made whole.