Binance withdrawals are paused after the record $6.3 billion hack of October 29, 2026, and millions of users want to know two things: when can I take my money out, and is my crypto safe? Binance co-CEO Yi He says the exchange expects to begin resuming withdrawals within 48 hours of her October 30 update. Here is everything we know about the Binance withdrawals pause, the expected reopening date, what happens to your balance and the steps to take while you wait.

Binance withdrawals status right now

• Withdrawals: paused on all networks since the night of October 29 (first paused on several networks at about 22:15 UTC, then fully suspended around 00:13 UTC on October 30).
• Expected restart: Binance “expect[s] to begin resume withdrawal services in the next 48 hours,” according to Yi He’s post at 04:17 UTC on October 30 — which points to about November 1, 2026.
• Deposits: Yi He says deposits “remain unaffected and continue to operate as normal,” although Binance’s earlier notices listed deposits as suspended. Check the app before you send funds.
• Binance.US: not affected.
• Your balance: Binance says all customer losses will be covered.

Why did Binance pause withdrawals?

On the evening of October 29, attackers drained Binance hot wallets on ten blockchains, taking an estimated $6.3 billion — the biggest crypto hack in history. Binance’s first findings point to a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which gave the attacker access to a service container that could submit withdrawal transactions. On Ethereum, the attacker used an EIP-7702 delegation so a contract they controlled could act for a Binance hot wallet.

Pausing withdrawals stops any further unauthorized transfers while Binance rebuilds its withdrawal system. Binance says it has revoked the affected address authorization and is “working on enhancements to the withdrawal service and related address controls.” For the full minute-by-minute story, read our Binance hack 2026 explainer.

When will Binance withdrawals resume?

Based on Yi He’s 48-hour estimate, Binance withdrawals should start coming back around Sunday, November 1, 2026. That would mean a total pause of up to about 54 hours. A few things to expect:

• A gradual restart. Yi He said withdrawals will “gradually resume,” so some coins and networks may reopen before others.
• Possible delays and queues. After a long pause, many users will withdraw at once. Expect slower processing at first.
• New security checks. Upgraded address controls may mean extra confirmations or temporary limits on new withdrawal addresses.
• Proof of Reserves. Binance has promised an updated Proof of Reserves after the fix, so users can check that customer assets are fully backed.

For comparison, rival exchange Bybit kept withdrawals open during its $1.5 billion hack in February 2025, so Binance’s pause is longer than some users expected.

Is Binance safe after the hack?

Binance says user funds are safe. Here is why the exchange says it can absorb the loss:

• About $3 billion is frozen. Tether, Circle, Ripple, World Liberty Financial, the Arbitrum Security Council and others froze a large share of the stolen funds within hours — and the total has kept rising.
• The rest will be covered from the SAFU fund (Secure Asset Fund for Users, reportedly about $1 billion in bitcoin) and Binance company funds. Co-CEO Yi He said Binance will cover “all hacking losses.”
• Large reserves. DefiLlama data showed about $144 billion in assets on Binance before the hack, so the stolen amount was roughly 4% of the total.
• Track record. When 7,000 BTC was stolen from Binance in May 2019, SAFU covered the loss in full.

Still, no exchange is risk-free. Large investors have been moving crypto off centralized exchanges since the hack, and spreading your holdings is sensible. See how this attack compares in our list of the biggest crypto hacks in history.

What Binance users should do while withdrawals are paused

1. Stay calm and don’t panic-sell. Trading inside the exchange is not the same as getting your money out, and selling in a falling market can lock in losses.
2. Follow official channels only. Use the Binance app, binance.com and Binance’s verified X account. Executive posts sometimes come before official notices, so wait for confirmation from Binance itself.
3. Beware of scams. Fake “Binance refund,” “compensation” or “unlock your withdrawal” messages are already circulating. Binance will never ask for your password, 2FA code or seed phrase, or ask you to pay a fee to unlock funds.
4. Take screenshots of your balances, open orders and transaction history.
5. Check your security settings: authenticator app or passkey, anti-phishing code and withdrawal address whitelist.
6. Plan your withdrawal. Decide in advance where funds will go — ideally a hardware wallet for long-term holdings — and double-check addresses when withdrawals reopen.
7. Check deposits before sending. If you plan to deposit, confirm in the app that your network is open.

How the Binance withdrawals pause hit crypto prices

Bitcoin slid to about $76,650 early on October 30 — its lowest level in six weeks — before recovering to around $78,000. BNB fell more than 8% at one point, then bounced to around $716 after Binance explained the cause and how losses would be covered. Ether, Solana and XRP each dropped about 4% to 6% over 24 hours.

Sources: FinanceFeeds, BlockchainReporter, CoinDesk, TRM Labs.

FAQ

Why are Binance withdrawals suspended?

Binance paused withdrawals after hackers stole about $6.3 billion from its hot wallets on October 29, 2026. The pause stops further unauthorized transfers while Binance upgrades its withdrawal system.

When will Binance withdrawals be back?

Co-CEO Yi He said on October 30 that Binance expects to begin resuming withdrawals within 48 hours, around November 1, 2026, with services returning gradually.

Will I lose my money on Binance?

Binance says no. It has promised to cover all hacking losses using its SAFU fund and company funds, and about $3 billion of the stolen assets has already been frozen.

Can I still deposit or trade on Binance?

Yi He says deposits are working normally, but earlier Binance notices listed deposits as suspended. Check the Binance app for your specific coin and network before sending funds.

Is Binance.US affected?

No. Binance says Binance.US was not affected by the hack.

The biggest crypto hacks in history have drained tens of billions of dollars from exchanges, bridges and DeFi apps, and on October 29, 2026 the record was smashed when Binance lost about $6.3 billion in one evening. Below is the full ranked list of the biggest crypto hacks, how each one happened, who was behind it and what you can learn to keep your own coins safe.

Biggest crypto hacks in history: quick list

Amounts are in US dollars at the time of each hack.

1. Binance hack (October 2026) — about $6.3 billion

The biggest crypto hack ever happened on October 29, 2026. Attackers drained Binance hot wallets on ten blockchains in under an hour, taking 18,270 BTC, more than 200,000 ETH, billions in USDT and USDC, plus XRP, SOL and TRX. Binance traced the breach to a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop that gave access to its withdrawal systems; it found no leaked private keys. Analysts at TRM Labs blame North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. Stablecoin issuers and partners froze about $3 billion, and Binance says it will cover all customer losses. Read the full story: Binance hack 2026: what happened.

2. Bybit hack (February 2025) — about $1.5 billion

On February 21, 2025, hackers took about 400,000 ETH-equivalent tokens from Dubai-based exchange Bybit by tricking its multisig signers during a routine transfer from cold to warm storage. The FBI attributed the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor (Lazarus Group). Bybit stayed solvent and covered customers with its own reserves and loans from partners.

3. Ronin Network hack (March 2022) — about $625 million

The Ronin bridge behind the game Axie Infinity lost 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC after attackers took control of five of its nine validator keys — partly through a fake job offer sent to an engineer. The US Treasury linked the Ronin hack to the Lazarus Group.

4. Poly Network hack (August 2021) — about $611 million

A flaw in Poly Network’s cross-chain smart contracts let one hacker move about $611 million across Ethereum, BNB Chain and Polygon. In an unusual twist, the self-described “Mr. White Hat” returned almost all the funds within two weeks.

5. BNB Chain bridge exploit (October 2022) — about $570 million

An attacker forged proofs on the BSC Token Hub bridge and minted 2 million BNB out of thin air. Validators paused BNB Chain within hours, so only a fraction of the funds left the network — but it remains one of the biggest crypto hacks by headline value.

6. Coincheck hack (January 2018) — about $534 million

Japanese exchange Coincheck lost 523 million NEM tokens kept in a single hot wallet without multisig protection. The hack pushed Japan to tighten exchange rules, and Coincheck repaid customers in yen.

7. FTX hack (November 2022) — about $477 million

Hours after FTX filed for bankruptcy, about $477 million was drained from its wallets. In 2024, US prosecutors charged three people in a SIM-swap scheme they linked to the theft.

8. Mt. Gox (2011–2014) — about 850,000 BTC

Mt. Gox handled most of the world’s bitcoin trading before it collapsed in 2014, saying about 850,000 BTC had been lost to years of theft. About 200,000 BTC were later found, and creditors waited a decade for repayments to begin in 2024.

9. Wormhole hack (February 2022) — about $326 million

A signature-verification bug in the Wormhole bridge let an attacker mint 120,000 wrapped ETH on Solana without depositing real ETH. Jump Crypto replaced the funds within a day.

10. DMM Bitcoin hack (May 2024) — about $305 million

Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin lost 4,502.9 BTC. The FBI and Japanese police later blamed North Korea’s TraderTraitor, which reached the exchange through a wallet software company. DMM Bitcoin shut down later that year.

11. WazirX hack (July 2024) — about $230 million

India’s WazirX lost almost half its reserves when attackers compromised one of its multisig wallets. The hack froze trading for months and led to a restructuring plan for its users.

12. Cetus Protocol hack (May 2025) — about $223 million

A math bug in Cetus, the largest decentralized exchange on the Sui blockchain, was used to drain liquidity pools. Sui validators froze about $162 million of the stolen funds.

What the biggest crypto hacks have in common

• North Korea is the No. 1 threat. Lazarus and TraderTraitor are blamed for Binance, Bybit, Ronin, DMM Bitcoin and more — billions of dollars in total.
• People are the weak point. Fake job offers, a compromised laptop and tricked signers caused more damage than code bugs.
• Bridges and hot wallets are prime targets because huge amounts sit in one place, online.
• Speed matters. Freezes by Tether, Circle and blockchain validators now recover a large share of stolen stablecoins within hours.

How to protect your crypto from hacks

1. Keep long-term coins in a hardware wallet and store your seed phrase offline.
2. Spread your risk — don’t keep everything on one exchange.
3. Use an authenticator app or passkey, not SMS, for two-factor authentication.
4. Turn on withdrawal whitelists and an anti-phishing code on exchanges.
5. Ignore “refund” or “compensation” messages after a hack — they are almost always phishing scams.
6. Never share your seed phrase with anyone, including “support” staff.

The list of the biggest crypto hacks in history keeps growing, and the Binance hack shows that size alone does not make a platform safe. Bookmark this page — we update it whenever a major crypto hack happens.

Sources: TRM Labs, CoinDesk, Wikipedia: 2024 WazirX hack.

FAQ

What is the biggest crypto hack in history?

The Binance hack of October 29, 2026, with about $6.3 billion stolen. The previous record was the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025.

Who is behind most big crypto hacks?

North Korea’s Lazarus Group and its TraderTraitor unit are linked to many of the largest thefts, including Bybit, Ronin, DMM Bitcoin and, according to analysts, Binance.

Do victims of crypto hacks get their money back?

Sometimes. Large exchanges such as Binance and Bybit have covered customer losses, and stablecoin freezes can recover part of the funds, but users of smaller platforms often lose money or wait years.

How can I keep my crypto safe?

Use a hardware wallet for long-term holdings, enable app-based two-factor authentication, use withdrawal whitelists and never share your seed phrase.

The Binance hack of October 29, 2026 is now the largest theft in cryptocurrency history. Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, says attackers took about $6.3 billion in digital assets from its hot wallets across ten blockchains in a single evening. Roughly $3 billion has already been frozen, withdrawals are paused, and Binance says it will cover every customer loss. Here is the full story of the Binance hack — what happened, minute by minute, who is suspected, how it hit crypto prices and what Binance users should do right now.

Binance hack at a glance

• Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026 (main theft between about 20:05 and 21:00 UTC)
• Estimated loss: about $6.3 billion (Binance); $6.36 billion (TRM Labs); $5.9 billion (Chainalysis)
• Frozen so far: about $3 billion, including $2.3 billion+ in USDT and USDC
• Cause (initial): a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop — Binance found no evidence of a leaked private key
• Suspected attacker: North Korea’s TraderTraitor / Lazarus Group (according to TRM Labs and ZachXBT; not officially confirmed by Binance)
• Customer funds: Binance says it will “cover all losses” with its SAFU fund and company money
• Not affected: Binance.US

What happened: the Binance hack timeline

Blockchain investigators were able to rebuild the attack almost minute by minute from public on-chain data. All times below are UTC.

October 28 — the setup

According to TRM Labs, an “operator” wallet received three small withdrawals from the Tornado Cash mixer on the morning of October 28. That gave the attacker untraceable gas money and shows the operation was planned at least 36 hours in advance.

October 29 — test runs

Early on October 29, the attacker deployed and tested the attack code on two wallets, then rehearsed the final version on a third. About four hours later, the code was installed on a Binance hot wallet.

20:05 to 20:20 — the drain begins

• 20:05–20:09: five Binance XRP wallets sent 233.46 million XRP (about $296 million) to a single attacker address.
• 20:20: a Binance Bitcoin hot wallet sent 18,270 BTC (about $1.47 billion).
• In the same window, the attacker submitted 50 pre-signed EIP-7702 authorizations on Binance’s Ethereum hot wallet. About 3.4 minutes later, the entire wallet was emptied — including 167,464 ETH and 1.615 billion USDT.
• Within two minutes, a Binance Tron hot wallet sent out 612.7 million USDT and 46.4 million TRX.

21:00 to midnight — the freezes

Blockchain researcher Spreek was among the first to raise the alarm on X, and Arkham flagged wallets later labeled “binance-hacker-1029.” Stablecoin issuers moved fast:

• 21:01: Tether began freezing USDT (over $1.57 billion in total).
• 21:04: Circle froze over $800 million in USDC.
• 22:01: Ripple started freezing RLUSD.
• 22:10: World Liberty Financial froze $27 million USD1 and $2 million WLFI.
• 23:05: a second wave hit Binance wallets on Avalanche and Polygon.

Meanwhile, the attacker kept sweeping Ethereum wallets at 20:41, 20:59, 21:04, 21:44, 22:39 and 23:56.

October 30 — Binance explains

Just after midnight, the Arbitrum Security Council froze $30.5 million (74.6 million ARB and 8,425 ETH). Binance suspended deposits, withdrawals and Binance Alpha trading. At about 02:25 UTC, Binance said its first findings pointed to a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop and put the total impact at about $6.3 billion, with roughly $3 billion verified as frozen.

How much was stolen in the Binance hack? (by blockchain)

TRM Labs published this breakdown of the roughly $6.36 billion taken at the time of the theft:

For scale: DefiLlama data showed Binance holding about $144 billion in assets before the hack, so the stolen amount is roughly 4% of the exchange’s reserves.

How did hackers break into Binance?

Binance says its initial investigation shows the incident “may involve a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop.” That access let the attacker reach a service container inside Binance’s systems and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. Crucially, Binance says it found no evidence that any wallet private key leaked.

Blockaid’s Ido Ben-Natan described it as “key misuse”: the attacker did not steal the keys, but got the signing system to sign transactions for them. Because withdrawals were signed across ten different chains at almost the same time, TRM Labs believes the hot-wallet signing infrastructure itself was compromised. Binance has promised a full post-mortem.

Who is behind the Binance hack? North Korea suspected

TRM Labs attributes the attack “with high confidence” to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit that is part of the wider Lazarus Group. Blockaid and well-known on-chain investigator ZachXBT also pointed to North Korea. Investigators cite the same playbook used in the $1.5 billion Bybit hack of February 2025 and the April 2026 KelpDAO hack:

• Small Tornado Cash withdrawals to fund an operator wallet
• Staging and test runs well before the theft
• Signatures prepared in advance and executed in one fast burst

Binance itself has not publicly named the attacker and says it is working with law enforcement.

Where is the stolen money going?

Instead of the bridge-heavy laundering seen after Bybit, the attacker has so far used large swaps and lending markets:

• Bitcoin peel chain: the 18,270 BTC was split into 1,000 BTC and 100 BTC chunks (reports say about $1.4 billion of bitcoin was spread across 19 wallets).
• Dumping stablecoins: about 325 million USDT was sold through UniswapX and other intent-based contracts for about 122,300 ETH — at 10%+ below market price, to move it before it could be frozen.
• Borrowing: a wallet supplied 60 million USDT to Aave and borrowed about 19,760 ETH (around $44 million). Aave froze markets and said suppliers were not at risk. On Tron, 300 million USDT went into JustLend.
• DEX swaps: about 200 million USDT moved through hop wallets and Uniswap, and 48 million RLUSD was sold on decentralized exchanges.

Are Binance users’ funds safe?

Binance says yes. Co-CEO Yi He said on X that Binance will cover “all hacking losses,” and the exchange says it will use its SAFU fund (Secure Asset Fund for Users, created in 2018 and reportedly holding about $1 billion in bitcoin) plus company funds. Founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, now Binance’s largest shareholder, posted that “user funds are safe” and that he expects them to be fully covered.

Binance has a track record here: when hackers stole 7,000 BTC in May 2019, SAFU covered the loss in full. This time the hole is far larger, which is why the roughly $3 billion already frozen matters so much.

Waiting to move your coins? See our live guide: Binance withdrawals suspended — when will they resume?

How the Binance hack hit crypto prices

Markets dropped as the news spread late on October 29:

• Bitcoin (BTC): fell about 4.8% to below $77,000
• Ether (ETH): down about 5.7% to around $2,211
• BNB: down about 8% to around $693
• AAVE: down about 11%
• Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index: dropped to 30 (“fear”)

CoinDesk reports that institutional investors are pulling crypto from centralized exchanges as a precaution. Market makers Wintermute and GSR disclosed limited exposure (under 20% and under 5% of net equity). Even before this breach, security firm CertiK counted $1.28 billion in crypto hack losses in Q3 2026.

What Binance users should do right now

1. Don’t panic-sell. Binance says customer balances are covered, and withdrawals will resume once the issue is fixed.
2. Use only official channels. Check the Binance app, binance.com and Binance’s verified X account for updates.
3. Watch for “refund” scams. Fake emails, texts and DMs offering hack compensation will try to steal your login. Binance will never ask for your password, 2FA code or seed phrase.
4. Screenshot your balances. Keep a record of your holdings and open orders from before and after October 29.
5. Turn on strong security. Use an authenticator app or passkey, an anti-phishing code and withdrawal address whitelisting.
6. Think about self-custody. For long-term holdings, a hardware wallet removes exchange risk — “not your keys, not your coins.”

Binance hack vs. other big crypto hacks

At about $6.3 billion, the Binance hack is roughly four times larger than the previous record, the $1.5 billion Bybit theft in 2025. It also dwarfs the Ronin Network ($625 million) and Poly Network ($611 million) attacks. See our full ranking of the biggest crypto hacks in history for the complete list.

The Binance hack is a reminder that even the largest exchange in the world can be breached through one compromised device. We’ll keep this story updated as Binance publishes its post-mortem and more of the stolen funds are traced.

Sources: TRM Labs, CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, TechCrunch.

FAQ

How much money was stolen in the Binance hack?

Binance estimates about $6.3 billion. TRM Labs puts it at $6.36 billion at the time of the theft, and Chainalysis at about $5.9 billion. Around $3 billion has been frozen.

When did the Binance hack happen?

On Thursday, October 29, 2026. The main theft took place between about 20:05 and 21:00 UTC, with more sweeps until midnight.

Who hacked Binance?

Blockchain analysts, including TRM Labs and ZachXBT, link the attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor / Lazarus Group. Binance has not officially confirmed who was responsible.

Is my money safe on Binance?

Binance says it will cover all losses using its SAFU fund and company funds, and that user funds are safe. Withdrawals are paused until the security issue is resolved.

Is this the biggest crypto hack ever?

Yes. At about $6.3 billion, it is the largest crypto theft on record — about four times bigger than the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in 2025.

Was Binance.US affected?

No. Binance says Binance.US was not affected by the hack.