On 30 October 2026, the latest news is clear on the central fact: Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, suffered a security breach on 29 October 2026. The estimated impact is about $6.3 billion, which is reported as the largest crypto theft on record, surpassing Bybit's $1.5 billion in 2025. All figures at this stage are preliminary estimates, and the investigation is ongoing.

The preliminary investigation has pointed to a compromised DevOps engineer's laptop. That laptop may have let an attacker access a service container and submit unauthorised withdrawal transactions. Investigators have found no evidence so far of a wallet private key leak, but that finding is preliminary and may change as more evidence is examined.

The technical detail most often cited in early reporting involves a wallet called Binance 14. That wallet was included in Binance's 1 October proof of reserves. Reporting says the attacker used the Ethereum feature EIP-7702 on Binance 14, turning it into a sweeper, and about 204,500 ETH moved, leaving ETH backing near 94 percent, down from 100 percent on 1 October.

Part of the stolen movement has been stopped through freezes. About $3 billion has been frozen so far, including $2.3 billion in USDT and USDC. Tether froze more than $1.567 billion in USDT, Circle froze about $823 million in USDC, Ripple froze about $200 million, and World Liberty Financial froze $27 million in USD1. Freezing is not the same as returning funds, and the frozen total is smaller than the estimated $6.3 billion impact.

Binance's leadership has responded with a funding commitment. Co-CEO Yi He said all losses will be covered from company funds and the SAFU emergency fund, which holds about $1 billion in bitcoin, and that user funds are safe. Deposits and withdrawals were suspended as a precaution, and Yi He said she expects withdrawal resumption to begin within the next 48 hours.

There is one discrepancy readers should know about. Some reports say deposits were unaffected, while other reporting describes deposits and withdrawals as suspended. This article does not present either version as certain, because the available facts do not resolve the conflict, and official Binance channels are the place to check the current position.

Attribution has also been reported, with an important qualification. TRM Labs traced the breach to the North Korean unit TraderTraitor, and other trackers also pointed to North Korea. That attribution is an investigators' claim, not a court finding, and Pyongyang has previously denied hacking allegations. It should not be repeated as a proven legal conclusion.

Markets reacted quickly. Bitcoin fell below $77,000, down about 4.5 percent in 24 hours to $76,664 and later about $77,984, ether fell about 3.2 percent, BNB fell about 3.9 percent, and more than $1 billion in leveraged positions was liquidated in 24 hours. The next dated check is the proof-of-reserves snapshot on 1 November 2026, which will show whether stolen assets were replaced. This article gives no advice on buying, selling, holding, or withdrawing.

FAQ: Was Binance hacked? Yes, a security breach on 29 October 2026 is the reported fact, with an estimated $6.3 billion impact. Are user funds safe? Binance says user funds are safe and losses will be covered from company funds and SAFU, a statement readers can weigh against the 1 November proof-of-reserves snapshot. What happens next? The investigation continues, withdrawal resumption is expected to begin within the next 48 hours according to Yi He, and official Binance channels carry the current status.