Binance temporarily stopped deposits and withdrawals to carry out security checks after a breach moved roughly $6.36 billion out of its wallets across ten blockchains in about 20 minutes.

US‑based blockchain intelligence firm TRM attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit, noting similarities to earlier North Korea‑linked heists such as the February 2025 Bybit breach.

TRM said it made the attribution with “high confidence,” and described the incident as the largest cryptocurrency theft on record, with the stolen amount exceeding $6 billion (Sh774 billion).

Binance reported that it has located and frozen about $3 billion (Sh387 billion) of the affected assets while continuing to work with law‑enforcement partners to identify the perpetrators.

The exchange’s initial investigation suggests a software‑engineer’s laptop was compromised, granting attackers access to an internal service and enabling unauthorised withdrawals, but no evidence was found that wallet private keys were leaked.

Co‑founder Yi He said Binance will cover all hacking losses, and a company spokesperson assured users that their funds remain safe.

Stablecoin issuers responded by freezing assets: Tether froze around $1.6 billion (Sh206.4 billion) of USDT, and Circle froze roughly $800 million (Sh103.2 billion) of USDC.

The news triggered a 3.2 percent decline in Bitcoin’s price, pushing it below $79,000 (Sh10.19 million) by evening.