How Binance Was HACKED For $6 Billion

Binance suffered what the host described as the largest hack in crypto history, with roughly $6 billion drained from hot wallets across multiple chains in under half an hour. The attack began when onchain trackers spotted unusual outflows from Binance wallets, then escalated as Ethereum, Bitcoin, Tron, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, and possibly Solana addresses were emptied. Binance later paused deposits and withdrawals globally, while Binance US said it was unaffected.

The host said Binance’s initial findings point to a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, followed by access to internal infrastructure and unauthorized withdrawals from hot wallets. On Ethereum, the attackers allegedly used EIP7702 to turn a wallet into an automatic sweeper. Binance said there was no sign its cold storage or master keys were touched, and the host said several intelligence firms attribute the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, though that has not been formally confirmed.

Binance said user funds are safe and losses will be covered with its SAFU fund and corporate balance sheet. The host said stablecoin issuers and protocols froze about $2.5 billion to $3 billion of the stolen assets, limiting the attackers’ gains, but more than $570 million in ETH had already begun moving through mixers and bridges. The shock hit markets hard, pushing Bitcoin below $80,000 and triggering about $1.5 billion in liquidations, while BNB and ETH also sold off.