Binance said a security incident hit about $6.3 billion and it will cover losses

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said a security incident had an estimated total impact of around $6.3 billion, in an update posted on 30 October. The exchange said it had worked with blockchain partners to freeze affected assets, with about $3 billion frozen on-chain so far, and that it would cover all losses from its SAFU fund and company funds. "User funds are safe," Binance said.

Binance said its initial investigation suggested the incident may have involved a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, which let an attacker reach a service container and submit unauthorised withdrawals. It said it had found no evidence that any wallet private key had leaked. BleepingComputer reported that co-chief executive Richard Teng later said the process was more complex than one engineer's permissions and that the company had found additional points of breach. BleepingComputer quoted him as saying the investigation had not attributed responsibility to any individual.

As precautions, Binance said it had temporarily suspended withdrawals while security checks are completed, revoked the affected address authorisation, and brought in law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds. It later updated the notice to say deposits were unaffected. Binance said it would share a detailed technical post-mortem once its investigation is complete, and an updated proof of reserves once remediation is done.

The news weighed on crypto-related U.S. stocks. Reuters reported that Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood fell between 7.2% and 10.6% on Friday. FiscalHour reported Coinbase's third-quarter results on Friday. Binance users should rely on the exchange's official channels for updates on withdrawals.

This article reports company statements and market moves. It is not investment advice and does not say whether any crypto asset or stock should be bought, held or sold.