{"id":97018,"date":"2026-10-31T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=97018"},"modified":"2026-10-30T19:33:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T01:33:46","slug":"binance-suspends-withdrawals-after-crypto-hackers-steal-6-3-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/binance-suspends-withdrawals-after-crypto-hackers-steal-6-3-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"Binance suspends withdrawals after crypto hackers steal $6.3 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Binance<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Binance, the world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that it had halted withdrawals after it was attacked by hackers who made off with more than $6 billion in digital coins, in what appears to be the biggest crypto heist in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exact nature of the attack was not immediately clear. Binance\u2019s founder, the crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, said it \u201cdoes look like a hack.\u201d The company said it had temporarily suspended all deposits and withdrawals and that its customers would be made whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Binance said that it would cover all losses, estimated at about $6.3 billion. The company said that it had coordinated with other crypto firms to freeze about $3 billion in assets that were swept up in the hack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack appeared to be the work of \u201cNorth Korea\u2019s elite hacking unit,\u201d according to TRM Labs, a crypto research firm. The firm had \u201chigh confidence\u201d in its assessment, it said, based on features of the hack that resembled previous thefts. TRM Labs estimated that the hackers had shifted about $2.4 billion in crypto coins \u201cbeyond any issuer\u2019s reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Binance initially believed that the attackers might have compromised its systems through an engineer\u2019s laptop, leading to unauthorized withdrawals. But on Friday, the company said it had found \u201cadditional points of breach,\u201d calling the attack a \u201ccomplex hack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are doing all we can in coordination with law enforcement to resolve it,\u201d Binance said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Binance added on Friday that it had started to recover some of the stolen crypto assets as well as set aside billions of dollars to cover customers\u2019 losses. It said it was on track to allow customers to withdraw money from their accounts within two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack on Binance was a stunning illustration of the risks of trading crypto, a renegade branch of finance. For years, the industry has sought mainstream respectability, pouring money into politics and earning the support of President Trump, who pledged to make the United States the \u201ccrypto capital of the planet.\u201d But the industry remains a wild west, vulnerable to hacks and fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News of the security breach caused chaos in the crypto industry, which has faced a string of damaging cyberattacks over the years. In February 2025, Bybit, one of Binance\u2019s top rivals, lost $1.5 billion to North Korean hackers \u2014 the largest crypto heist at the time. The Binance attack appears poised to top it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, dropped below $80,000 for the first time in more than a month. Crypto-linked stocks also took a hit on Friday: the U.S. exchange Coinbase fell more than 11 percent; the brokerage Robinhood shed nearly 8 percent; and Strategy, a company that buys and sells enormous amounts of Bitcoin, dropped 10 percent in early trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On social media, Mr. Zhao tried to steady nerves with a mix of soothing responses and prayer hand emojis. He suggested in a post on X that customers\u2019 investments were safe because they were backed by an emergency reserve fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt hurts, but we will survive,\u201d Mr. Zhao wrote on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also spent time combating what he interpreted as trolling by X\u2019s owner, the billionaire Elon Musk. After an X user compared Mr. Zhao\u2019s statements about his customers\u2019 deposits to the reassurances of Sam Bankman-Fried during the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX, Mr. Musk responded with a grimacing emoji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cElon, have a lot of respect for you, but bad time to troll,\u201d Mr. Zhao replied. He then noted that Binance had helped Mr. Musk in the past, investing $500 million in his acquisition of Twitter. That investment is now \u201cworth more than a billion\u201d in SpaceX shares, X\u2019s parent company, Mr. Zhao noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another post, Mr. Zhao suggested that Binance\u2019s SpaceX holdings could be used to cover the customer losses from the hack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Binance has weathered years of legal and regulatory problems. In 2023, the company pleaded guilty to violating anti-money-laundering laws and paid $4.3 billion in penalties to the U.S. government. Mr. Zhao was sentenced to four months in federal prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his release, Mr. Zhao received a pardon from President Trump. Binance has also forged a business relationship with the Trump family crypto business, World Liberty Financial, a major source of the president\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Binance plays a crucial role in the crypto industry. It is the world\u2019s largest marketplace for digital coins, a platform that customers use to swap traditional currencies for Bitcoin, Ether and other types of crypto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But like many crypto exchanges, it also operates as something akin to a bank. Customers store their holdings on Binance, relying on the exchange to keep their funds safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As news of the apparent theft spread on Thursday, Binance\u2019s industry peers rushed to its aid. Tether, a major crypto platform, said it had frozen more than $1.5 billion in crypto related to \u201ca potential Binance hack.\u201d Circle, another crypto firm, said it had frozen more than $800 million \u201cassociated with the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n