Yes, Binance was hacked. The exchange says about $6.3 billion in assets were affected, roughly $3 billion has been frozen, and deposits and withdrawals are on hold while it investigates. Binance also says user funds remain safe, and points to its emergency reserve, the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU).
That’s the short version. The longer one matters more, especially if you have been wondering whether the savings you parked on a crypto app are really yours in the way a plot of land is yours.
What happened to Binance?
TRM Labs says the attacker moved around $6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on October 29, across ten blockchains. Most of it left in about 20 minutes. Binance puts the impact at about $6.3 billion. Early social media posts guessed anywhere between $2 billion and $8 billion, so the official figure landed somewhere in the middle.
For scale: Binance reported 335 million registered users and about $162.8 billion in assets under custody in its 2025 annual report. TRM says all crypto hackers combined stole about $2.9 billion last year, across nearly 150 attacks. One afternoon at Binance was more than double that.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said the first look at the evidence suggests the break-in started with a compromised engineer’s laptop. Investigators think the attackers used that foothold to tamper with a genuine transaction request and send funds to wallets they controlled. Other firms helped freeze money as it moved. Binance said Ripple froze roughly $200 million.
Markets noticed. Bitcoin fell, and in after-hours US trading, Coinbase shares fell 4.8% while Strategy, a big bitcoin holder, dropped nearly 6%.
Binance Hacked?
Nobody has claimed it, and Binance hasn’t named anyone. But TRM Labs, Chainalysis and the on-chain investigator ZachXBT all point to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. TRM says the method matches earlier North Korean heists, including the 2025 Bybit hack that the FBI pinned on Pyongyang.
Treat that as strong expert opinion, not a court verdict. The investigation is still open.
Binance Hicaked: What the experts are saying
We reviewed analyst reactions published since the news “Binance Hacked” broke. The voices differ in tone, but they keep circling the same worry.
Eric Jardine, head of research at Chainalysis, was careful. He said the investigation is ongoing and that the cause couldn’t yet be confirmed. His boss, CEO Jonathan Levin, was more direct, saying the pattern looks like TraderTraitor and putting the haul slightly higher than Binance’s figure at about $6.4 billion.
Aravind Srinivasan, who runs systematic OTC at market maker GSR, called it the biggest hack in history. He also flagged the day-to-day effect: wider spreads and thinner liquidity on Binance’s spot market, which makes trading more expensive for ordinary users.
Mark Karpeles, former head of Mt. Gox and now CEO of Karpeles Lab, knows a thing or two about exchange disasters. He said Binance appears to split its assets across several systems, so one breach can only reach part of them. His catch: even a partial loss at this size is huge.
Tim Sun, a senior researcher at HashKey Group in Hong Kong, said the hack could dampen risk appetite and push investors to rethink the safety of coins held on centralised exchanges. He named the usual suspects: counterparty, solvency and liquidity risk.
Sean Foley, a crypto markets specialist at Macquarie, made the confidence point. Binance is one of the biggest centralised exchanges, so a hit to trust in it could rattle retail investors and weigh on prices.
Reuters also reports that crypto was already under pressure this year from higher US interest rates and softer buying through exchange-traded funds. The hack lands on an already nervous market.
Our read of all this: nobody is saying crypto is finished. Almost everyone is saying the same quieter thing: that when your coins sit on someone else’s platform, you’re trusting that company’s people, laptops and approval processes as much as the technology.
My Binance account might be hacked. What should I do?
If you’re searching for “Binance withdrawal blocked” or “how to recover a hacked Binance account”, first take a breath. Withdrawals are paused for everyone right now, so a blocked withdrawal doesn’t mean you were targeted.
Then do these things:
- Get updates only from Binance’s verified website, app, and official X account.
- Ignore anyone offering to “recover” your funds on Telegram, WhatsApp or by DM. Hack headlines bring scammers out within hours.
- Never share your password, 2FA codes or seed phrase with anyone, including people claiming to be support.
- Change your password, switch on app-based or hardware-key 2FA, and check your logged-in devices and API keys.
- Screenshot your balances and transaction IDs, in case you need to file a claim later.
Binance hacked before?
Yes. Binance lost around 7,000 BTC in a 2019 hack and was hit by a large BNB bridge exploit in 2022. Both were serious. This one is in a different league.
What the “Binance Hacked” says about holding crypto
When you keep coins on an exchange, you don’t hold the asset. You hold a promise from a company to return the asset. One compromised laptop was apparently enough to put billions in play, and no user, however careful, could have prevented it.
Self-custody has its own traps: lost keys, phishing links, fake apps, mistakes that can’t be reversed. And prices can swing hard in a day. None of this makes digital assets worthless. It does make them a shaky place to keep money you can’t afford to lose.
Most financial planners say the same thing about any single asset: don’t put everything in one basket. This week is a good reminder why.
Why some investors are looking at tangible assets
Gold, silver and property have a few things going for them that a digital balance doesn’t.
- You can point at them. A plot, a flat or a gold bar exists whether or not a server is online.
- The paperwork is public. Land and property titles are registered with the authorities and backed by courts, not by a platform’s terms and conditions.
- They have history. Gold has held value for centuries. Property in well-planned cities has tended to follow population growth and inflation over the long run.
- Property can pay you. Rent is income. Most crypto sits there and does nothing.
They aren’t risk-free, though. Property is harder to sell quickly, prices can fall, and some developers are far better than others. Gold moves around too. The difference is that nobody can empty your flat in twenty minutes from another country.
Binance Hacked: What this means in Pakistan
Pakistan has a young, growing population, steady demand for city housing, and a long habit of putting savings into gold and property. Plenty of families also turned to crypto in recent years, which is why Binance hacked searches here are full of questions like whether it’s safe, whether it’s halal and what happens if it’s banned. A headline like this one makes people ask where else their money could go.
In Islamabad, the Blue Area is still the capital’s main commercial address. Well-built towers there have drawn local buyers and overseas Pakistanis who want something solid at home.
Islamabad’s Tallest Residential Tower: Citadel One3
One development in that conversation is Citadel One3 by Chakor, a luxury condominium tower on Jinnah Avenue in the Blue Area.
The developer describes it as a 40-plus-storey building with smart-building features and strong rental potential, thanks to its central location. It sits alongside the company’s other projects such as Citadel 7.
Chakor has made headlines before. It introduced a 60-40 payment model for Citadel 7 and put up a public possession countdown there, so buyers could see the handover timeline for themselves. The company has offices in Islamabad (Plot 7, Main Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area) and Dallas, Texas, which helps buyers abroad.
The appeal is simple. An apartment at a prime address is something you can walk through, inspect and hold the title to.
Before you buy any property
- Check the developer’s approvals and NOCs with the relevant authority, which for Islamabad means CDA.
- Read the payment plan, handover dates and penalty clauses in writing.
- Visit the site and see the construction progress yourself.
- Have an independent lawyer verify the title documents.
- Compare expected rent and resale prices with similar projects nearby.
- Contact the developer directly: Chakor, +92 (334) 111-11-99, sales@chakorventures.com.
FAQs – Binance Hacked
Has Binance been hacked?
Yes. Binance says about $6.3 billion was affected and around $3 billion is frozen so far. It says user funds remain safe.
Who hacked Binance?
Blockchain analytics firms blame North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. Binance hasn’t named a culprit.
Can Binance be hacked again?
Any big exchange can be targeted. Binance had earlier incidents in 2019 and 2022, and this one is far bigger.
Is my money on Binance safe?
Binance says yes and points to its SAFU reserve. Follow its official announcements and be wary of anyone else’s.
Should I invest in crypto?
That’s your call. Never invest more than you can afford to lose, and consider spreading your money across different asset classes.
Are tangible assets safer than crypto?
They can’t be hacked, but they carry their own risks, like slow resale and weak developers. Do your homework either way.
Sources
- Fortune: The $6.3 billion Binance hack, what we know so far
- Associated Press: Blockchain intelligence firms link North Korea to $6.3B hack on Binance
- Cointelegraph: North Korea’s TraderTraitor linked to $6.3B Binance hack
- Reuters via The Korea Times: Binance freezes assets after $6.3 billion heist
- Reuters via Internazionale: Binance freezes assets after $6.3 billion security breach
- India TV News: Binance rocked by suspected $6.3 billion breach
- The Jerusalem Post: Binance freezes assets after $6.3b security breach
- Cyprus Mail: Binance hit by record $6.3bn crypto hack blamed on North Korea
- Reuters via Devdiscourse: Instant View, analysts react to the Binance breach
- Reuters via 93.3 The Drive: Analysts react as Binance freezes assets
- Reuters via Devdiscourse: Binance freezes crypto assets, wider market impact
- DealStreetAsia: Binance freezes crypto assets after $6.3b security breach
- Al Jazeera: Binance says $6.3bn stolen in biggest crypto heist in history
- Chakor Ventures: Citadel One3, condominium residence
- Chakor Ventures: company offices and contact details
- The Express Tribune: Citadel 7 and the 60-40 payment model
- ProPakistani: Live possession countdown at Citadel 7
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