North Korea steals $6.3bn from Binance in largest heist in history

Federal investigators and private firms are tracking the funds after Tether froze $971m in USDT linked to the breach.

By Divyansh Mishra, YourKhabri DeskOct 30, 2026, 02:36 PM UTC1 min readBinanceNorth KoreaHackTether

Photo: Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Key takeaways

1North Korea is responsible for a $6.3bn hack of Binance.
2Tether froze $971m in USDT linked to the incident on 29 October.

North Korea carried out a $6.3bn security breach at Binance, according to a report by Watcher Guru on 30 October. The incident is the largest heist in human history. CNN earlier reported that North Korean hackers were responsible for the attack on the exchange.

Binance is working with the FBI and the Secret Service to investigate the incident. Tether froze $971m in USDT on 29 October after detecting suspicious onchain transfers linked to the breach. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his security team is also assisting with the investigation.

Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and handles billions of dollars in daily transactions. The company has not yet officially confirmed whether a platform exploit occurred. North Korean hacking groups have historically targeted digital asset firms to bypass international sanctions.

Investigators are currently tracking the remaining stolen funds across various blockchains. The freeze by Tether prevents the hackers from moving nearly a sixth of the total stolen amount. Market participants are waiting for a formal statement from Binance regarding the status of user deposits.

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Reported and edited by the YourKhabri desk under our editorial policy. Nothing here is investment advice.