Updated October 30, 07:05 UTC−3. What changed: Binance now estimates the damage at about US$ 6.3 billion; about US$ 3 billion is frozen; withdrawals are still closed, deposits work.
Short answer
Binance estimated the damage at about US$ 6.3 billion and says it will cover every loss from its SAFU fund and its own money. About US$ 3 billion is frozen, per Binance (October 29 and 30). Withdrawals are closed; Binance says they will reopen 45 hours after its post of October 30 at 05:47 UTC−3. Deposits work. If you hold funds on Binance, stay calm, follow only Binance's official channels and watch out for phishing.
Update, October 30
The damage. Binance estimated the damage at about US$ 6.3 billion. That is the exchange's own estimate, not a final count, and CEO Richard Teng repeated it. Analysts have their own estimates: Elliptic puts it at US$ 6.43 billion, Chainalysis at about US$ 6.4 billion (the company's estimate). Arkham: US$ 6.01 billion (company estimate).
What's frozen. About US$ 3 billion, per Binance (October 29 and 30). Tether froze more than 1.567 billion USDT, according to its CEO Paolo Ardoino. Circle froze more than 800 million USDC, according to its CEO Jeremy Allaire.
Withdrawals and deposits. Withdrawals remain closed. In its post of October 30 at 05:47 UTC−3, Binance says it will reopen them in 45 hours. Deposits work. Binance promises to cover all losses from the SAFU fund and company funds. SAFU is the exchange's insurance fund for incidents like this one.
The cause. According to Binance, the attackers first got in through an engineer's compromised laptop, and the investigation later found other points of entry. No leak of private keys has been found. Analysts link the attack to the Lazarus group, and Chainalysis attributes it to North Korea with high confidence, but this is an analysts' estimate: neither Binance nor the authorities have named a culprit.
What happened on the evening of October 29
Binance reported an incident and said user funds were completely safe. Withdrawals were paused on several networks, a Binance spokesperson told TechCrunch. Later that evening Binance also paused trading on Binance Alpha.
The market
According to CoinGecko as of October 30, 06:28 UTC−3: BTC at US$ 77,604 (−3.1% over 24 hours), BNB at US$ 702.58 (−6.5%). Prices depend on when they are measured.
What CZ says
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) speaks as founder and shareholder, not on behalf of the exchange. He wrote: "User funds are safe! It does look like a hack on Binance." And: "I don't manage Binance (.com) anymore, but as a shareholder, I expect all user funds will be fully covered."
Bybit was not affected
Bybit said this incident does not affect it: trading and withdrawals are working. Not to be confused with the earlier case: Bybit was hacked on February 21, 2025, for about US$ 1.5 billion, according to Crypto Briefing.
What to do if you hold funds on Binance
- Don't panic, and don't move funds out through third-party sites or services.
- Get news only from Binance's official channels.
- Watch out for phishing. After hacks, emails and messages about "compensation" or an "urgent account check" tend to show up. Don't click those links and never share your 2FA codes.
Who made this
Text: Alma, writer (AI assistant). Facts: Clio, researcher (AI assistant). Editing: Marco (AI assistant). Reviewed and approved by Oleg before publication.
The Digest is prepared by AI assistants.
Sources
- Binance on X, on the incident, 29.10.2026 (in English): x.com/binance, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Binance on X, on withdrawals, 29.10.2026 (in English): x.com/binance, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Binance on X, damage estimate, 29.10.2026, 23:25 UTC−3 (in English): x.com/binance, accessed 30.10.2026.
- Binance on X, Investigation update, 30.10.2026, 05:47 UTC−3 (in English): x.com/binance, accessed 30.10.2026.
- Richard Teng, CEO Binance, on X, 30.10.2026 (in English): x.com/_RichardTeng, accessed 30.10.2026.
- Elliptic (in English): elliptic.co, accessed 30.10.2026.
- Chainalysis on X, 30.10.2026, 01:31 UTC−3 (in English): x.com/chainalysis, accessed 30.10.2026.
- Arkham on X, 30.10.2026, 01:20 UTC−3 (in English): x.com/arkham, accessed 30.10.2026.
- CoinDesk, Lazarus, 29.10.2026 (in English): coindesk.com, accessed 30.10.2026.
- CoinGecko, BTC / BNB (in English): coingecko.com/bitcoin, coingecko.com/bnb, accessed 30.10.2026.
- TechCrunch, 29.10.2026 (in English): techcrunch.com, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Paolo Ardoino, CEO Tether, on X (in English): x.com/paoloardoino, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Jeremy Allaire, CEO Circle, on X (in English): x.com/jerallaire, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Changpeng Zhao (CZ), on X (in English): x.com/cz_binance, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Bybit, on X (in English): x.com/Bybit_Official, accessed 29.10.2026.
- Crypto Briefing (in English): cryptobriefing.com, accessed 29.10.2026.
How to cite: KD Demand, «The hack Binance reported: the exchange puts the damage at about US$ 6.3 billion», KD Digest, 30.10.2026. https://www.kdagencia.com/en/digest/binance-hack/
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