# Binance Hack, October 2026: What Happened, What's Frozen and Is Your Money Safe? Source: https://fxdaily.news/blog/binance-hack-october-2026 Published: 2026-10-30 · Updated: 2026-10-30 · Type: Guide **What happened in the Binance hack?** On 29 October 2026 an attacker drained billions in crypto from Binance hot wallets. Binance estimates the impact at about $6.3 billion, says a compromised engineer's laptop may be the cause and that no private keys leaked. About $3 billion is frozen, withdrawals are paused, and Binance says it will cover all losses. > **Key takeaways** > > - Binance estimates the hack's total impact at about **$6.3 billion**; Chainalysis put the theft at about **$5.9 billion**. That would make it the largest crypto theft on record ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets)). > - Binance's first findings point to a **compromised DevOps engineer's laptop**, and it says it found **no evidence of a private key leak** ([Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/binance-releases-first-6-3b-hack-findings-reports-no-key-leak-evidence/)). > - About **$3 billion** has been frozen on-chain, including more than 1.57 billion USDT by Tether and more than 800 million USDC by Circle. > - **Deposits and withdrawals are paused.** Binance says user funds are safe and it will cover all losses, but it has given no restart time (as of 09:30 PKT, 30 Oct). > - Expect a wave of **"fund recovery" scams**. Nobody can recover crypto for you through a DM. Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, said on Thursday that it had "fallen victim to a major hack" ([AFP via Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/crypto-platform-binance-confirms-major-013059975.html)). Here is what is confirmed so far, what isn't, and what it means if you trade. ## What happened, in Pakistan time | Time (PKT) | What happened | | --- | --- | | Fri 01:20 | A delegation transaction is submitted for the Ethereum wallet labelled "Binance 14". | | Fri 01:24 | Assets start moving to a newly created address. One address collects about $3.52 billion within 40 minutes, by on-chain estimates. | | Fri 05:00 | Co-CEO Yi He posts: "User funds are safe" and "Binance will cover all hacking losses." | | Fri 05:30 | Binance says deposits and withdrawals are "temporarily suspended" while it runs security checks and works with law enforcement. | | Fri 08:08 | Binance publishes its first findings: a possible compromised engineer's laptop, no evidence of a key leak, impact about $6.3 billion. | Times are converted from the ET and GMT times in [Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/inside-the-5-8b-binance-hack-whats-confirmed-and-what-isnt/), [AFP via Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/crypto-platform-binance-confirms-major-013059975.html) and [Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/binance-releases-first-6-3b-hack-findings-reports-no-key-leak-evidence/) (the first-findings time is that article's publish time). The on-chain times are what trackers reported; Binance has not confirmed them. ## How did the attacker get in? Binance says the incident "may involve a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop". The attacker reportedly used it to reach a service container and send withdrawal transactions that were never authorised. Binance said: "We have found no evidence of any wallet private key leak." It has revoked the affected address authorisation, and it promises a full post-mortem once the facts are verified ([Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/binance-releases-first-6-3b-hack-findings-reports-no-key-leak-evidence/)). Blockaid reported that one of 50 authorisations on the wallet matched, and the assets were swept about three minutes later ([Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/inside-the-5-8b-binance-hack-whats-confirmed-and-what-isnt/)). Investigators have not yet said exactly how the signing system was abused. ## How much was taken? The numbers differ because they were measured at different times and some on-chain tallies may include unrelated transfers. | Estimate | Figure | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Binance (total impact) | about $6.3B | [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets) | | Chainalysis (at time of theft) | about $5.9B | [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets) | | Arkham (attacker wallets at peak) | over $5.7B: about $1.5B BTC, $900M ETH, $1.5B USDT, $800M+ USDC | [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets) | | Glassnode | about $5.3B | [Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/inside-the-5-8b-binance-hack-whats-confirmed-and-what-isnt/) | | Changpeng Zhao (founder, shareholder) | losses "a bit higher" than $1B | [AFP via Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/crypto-platform-binance-confirms-major-013059975.html) | CZ's lower figure likely nets out what has been frozen, but he hasn't said so; Binance's own estimate is the $6.3 billion total. ## What has been frozen? | Who | Amount frozen | | --- | --- | | Tether | more than 1.567 billion USDT | | Circle | more than 800 million USDC, with law enforcement | | Ripple (per Binance's Yi He) | about $200 million | | Arbitrum Security Council | about $30.5 million | | World Liberty Financial | about $27 million in USD1 | Binance puts the total frozen at about **$3 billion**, including $2.3 billion in USDT and USDC ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets)). Frozen means the tokens can't be moved; it is not yet money returned to Binance. Aave also froze its Ethereum V3 markets for a while as a precaution, after the attacker borrowed at least 20,000 WETH there against stolen USDT ([Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/inside-the-5-8b-binance-hack-whats-confirmed-and-what-isnt/), [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets)). ## Is my money on Binance safe? What Binance has said: - **"User funds are safe"** and Binance **"will cover all hacking losses"** (Yi He, co-CEO). - Losses will be covered from the **SAFU fund** (about $1 billion in bitcoin) and **company funds** ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets)). - Withdrawals will restart "as soon as the security scan is complete". No time has been given. - An updated **proof-of-reserves** report will follow once the fix is done ([Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/binance-releases-first-6-3b-hack-findings-reports-no-key-leak-evidence/)). Those are Binance's promises, not an independent audit. Until withdrawals reopen, nobody can move coins off the exchange, so there is nothing to rush. Watch Binance's official announcements page and its verified X accounts for the restart, and wait for the proof-of-reserves update. ## Who is behind it? There is **no official attribution**. TRM Labs linked the attack with "high confidence" to TraderTraitor, a North Korean group. Blockaid's CEO said the tactics match North Korean operations, and investigator ZachXBT named the Lazarus Group ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets)). Binance has not confirmed any of this. ## How markets reacted - **Bitcoin** fell 4.8% to below $77,000; **ether** fell 5.7%, **BNB** 8% and **AAVE** 11% ([CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/29/potential-multi-billion-binance-hack-hitting-crypto-markets)). - About **$1.4 billion** of leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours, mostly longs, per Coinglass; not all of that was caused by the hack ([Bitcoin.com News](https://news.bitcoin.com/security/inside-the-5-8b-binance-hack-whats-confirmed-and-what-isnt/)). - Bitcoin was back at **$78,103** at 09:20 PKT on Friday ([Coinbase](https://www.coinbase.com/price/bitcoin) spot). **Gold** has not acted as a crypto safe haven so far. It is at 3,991 this morning, below Thursday's 4,021 close, and Thursday's strong US GDP is the bigger driver there. Levels and news times are in [today's gold brief](https://fxdaily.news/blog/gold-forex-daily-brief-2026-10-30). ## Stay safe from the scams that follow Big hacks are always followed by scammers. Use these rules: 1. **No one can "recover" your crypto.** Anyone who DMs you offering to get your Binance funds back for a fee is a scammer. 2. **Binance support never asks** for your password, 2FA code or seed phrase. Never share them. 3. **Use the official app or type binance.com yourself.** Don't click links in SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram or email about the hack. 4. **Don't send coins to a "verification" or "safe" address.** That is the most common trick after an exchange hack. 5. **Turn on an authenticator app and an anti-phishing code** in your account settings if you haven't already. ## The bottom line This is a large and still-developing story. The confirmed facts are a theft Binance puts at about $6.3 billion, about $3 billion frozen, paused withdrawals and Binance's promise to cover every loss. The cause and the attacker are not yet confirmed. We will update this page when Binance reopens withdrawals or publishes its post-mortem. ## Disclaimer This post is for education and news only and is not financial advice. Crypto, gold and forex trading carry high risk, and exchange hacks can freeze your funds without warning. Figures are as reported by the sources linked above at 09:30 PKT on 30 Oct 2026 and may change. --- Education only, not financial advice. FXDaily.news (FXD) is a free forex and gold news website for traders in Pakistan, also on Instagram as @fxnewsdaily.