# Binance's $6.3B heist

Business · Heat 10.0 / 10 · 12 shows · 1h 3m airtime

Binance said on October 29, 2026 that it was investigating an apparent cyber heist of about $6.3 billion and suspended transactions. Its initial investigation points to a compromised engineer's laptop that let an attacker submit unauthorized withdrawals; the attacker submitted 50 signed EIP-7702 authorizations, and only the one matching Binance 14's next nonce, 18,914,809, was accepted. Tether and Circle have frozen about $3 billion in stablecoins, leaving roughly $3.3 billion with the hackers, against a $1 billion emergency reserve. TRM Labs attributes the heist to a North Korean group called Trader Trader, which carried it out in about 20 minutes. A co-founder said deposits were unaffected and withdrawals should resume in about 48 hours.

Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/binances_6_3b_heist_2212123861

## Segments

- [WSJ What's News](https://boilpoints.com/u/wsjwhatsnews), 2026-10-30, 1:25 to 3:56: **Reports the Binance heist figures and frozen funds**. Reports the Binance heist with the numbers behind it: about $6.3 billion taken, about $3 billion frozen, attribution to North Korea's Trader Trader, and the Polymarket hack the day before. Frames it around state-sponsored groups getting more ambitious and AI cyber tools as a growing worry. New angle: Hackers took about $6.3 billion from Binance and roughly $3 billion has been frozen.
- [Morning Brew Daily](https://boilpoints.com/u/morningbrewdaily), 2026-10-30, 21:42 to 23:04: **Adds the compromised laptop mechanism**. Runs the heist as a sprint headline: the $6.3 billion figure, suspended withdrawals, Zhao's promise to cover losses and the Trader Trader attribution. Adds the one mechanism detail the record lacked - a compromised engineer's laptop that let an attacker reach a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawals. New angle: Binance's initial investigation points to a compromised engineer's laptop that let an attacker submit unauthorized withdrawals.
- [Squawk Pod](https://boilpoints.com/u/squawkpod), 2026-10-30, 3:15 to 7:03: **Adds Binance's response to the hack**. Reports the heist as the largest crypto hack ever and adds Binance's on-the-record response: deposits unaffected, withdrawals expected back in about 48 hours, all losses covered. Also puts TRM Labs' attribution and the market reaction on the record. New angle: Binance's co-founder said on X that deposits were unaffected and withdrawals should resume in about 48 hours.
- [Global News Podcast](https://boilpoints.com/u/globalnewspodcast), 2026-10-30, 10:59 to 14:00: **Reports the breached laptop and frozen funds**. Reports Binance's disclosure of a breach traced to an engineer's laptop, the Trader Traitor attribution, the frozen funds and the muted Bitcoin reaction, set against North Korea's crypto-theft record. New angle: Binance says a breached engineer's laptop led to a hack linked to more than $6 billion, with about $3 billion located.
- [Tech Brew Ride Home](https://boilpoints.com/u/techbrewridehome), 2026-10-30, 1:25 to 8:46: **Reconstructs the EIP-7702 sweeper and the nonce**. Opens with the record $6.3 billion Binance breach and walks through the freeze, the SAFU shortfall and the EIP-7702 sweeper reconstruction, including the 50 signed authorizations and the single nonce that landed. New angle: The attacker submitted 50 signed EIP-7702 authorizations; only the one matching Binance 14's next nonce, 18,914,809, was accepted.
- [Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar](https://boilpoints.com/u/breakingpointswithkrystalandsaagar), 2026-10-30, 45:22 to 53:31: **Walks through the hack from Binance's statement**. Walks through the mechanics of the Binance hack from the company's own statement: a compromised engineer's laptop, a hijacked hot wallet, most funds gone in under 20 minutes, $3 billion frozen. Widens into crypto's safety narrative and AI breaking encryption. New angle: Hackers reached Binance's withdrawal systems through one engineer's laptop; about $3 billion has been frozen.
- [Bloomberg Tech](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergtech), 2026-10-30, 19:27 to 22:20: **Reports the Binance breach and frozen stablecoins**. First coverage of the Binance breach: the laptop entry point, the $3 billion stablecoin freeze, the DPRK attribution from three analytics firms, and the muted market reaction. Binance says company funds cover the full loss. New angle: Binance says $6.3 billion was affected; about $3 billion in stablecoins is frozen and withdrawals are suspended until Sunday.
- [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-30, 9:01 to 15:03: **Walks through the Binance heist numbers**. Walks through the heist's numbers: the $6.3 billion take against a roughly $1 billion Secure Asset Fund, the $3 billion Tether and Circle froze, and the $3.3 billion still loose. Notes Bitcoin fell only about 4% over five days, against roughly 25% after Mt. Gox. New angle: Tether and Circle froze about $3 billion of the $6.3 billion, leaving roughly $3.3 billion with the hackers.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-30, 29:54 to 31:50: **Recaps the heist and adds FBI and Secret Service roles**. Recaps the heist on air: North Korean attribution, $6.3 billion moved in about 20 minutes, the Bybit comparison, withdrawals paused until the rebuilt system passes testing, and the crypto sell-off. Stays inside the week's coverage, adding only the FBI and Secret Service roles.
- [The Information's TITV](https://boilpoints.com/u/theinformationstitv), 2026-10-30, 33:31 to 44:38: **Interviews a reporter on the frozen funds**. Interviews The Information's crypto reporter and a Predicate co-founder on the $6.3 billion Binance hack: the compromised engineer's laptop, a likely North Korean state actor, Circle and Tether freezing addresses within about 40 minutes, and the roughly $3 billion still exposed after freezes. New angle: About half the $6.3 billion was frozen, leaving roughly $3 billion exposed, against a $1 billion emergency reserve.
- [Morning Wire](https://boilpoints.com/u/morningwire), 2026-10-30, 3:44 to 5:04: **Reports TRM Labs' attribution and 20-minute timeline**. Opens with the Binance heist as reported by TRM Labs - the $6 billion figure, the Trader Trader attribution, the 20-minute timeline and the frozen withdrawals - then pivots to a CrowdStrike report on a China-linked AI hacking campaign against 200-plus organizations. New angle: TRM Labs attributes the Binance heist to a North Korean group called Trader Trader, which pulled it off in about 20 minutes.
- [This Week in Startups](https://boilpoints.com/u/thisweekinstartups), 2026-10-30, 0:07 to 2:12: **Opens with the heist and the frozen funds**. Opens the episode with the Binance heist: the $6.3 billion estimate, the suspended deposits and withdrawals, the compromised engineer's laptop, and the roughly $3 billion frozen on chain by Tether, Circle, Ripple and World Liberty Financial. The hosts spend the first minutes joking about how the hack might have started. New angle: Binance says a compromised engineer's laptop may have let the attacker submit unauthorized withdrawals.
- [This Week in Startups](https://boilpoints.com/u/thisweekinstartups), 2026-10-30, 2:14 to 7:27: **Replays the 2021 warning and fills in CZ's history**. Plays Jason's July 2021 clip urging listeners to pull money off Binance, then fills in the CZ backstory - the Bank Secrecy Act plea, the four-month sentence at Lompoc, the 2025 pardon, his 90% stake - and credits him for backstopping the losses. Reaction and history, not new reporting on the hack.
- [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-30, 6:31 to 10:33: **Breaks down the SAFU fund and frozen funds**. Walks through the Binance heist: the $6.3 billion take, the roughly $1 billion SAFU fund it blew past, the $3 billion frozen by Tether and Circle, and the TraderTraitor attribution. Notes Bitcoin fell only about 4% where Mt. Gox cost 25 to 27%. New angle: Hackers took $6.3 billion from Binance, roughly $3.3 billion of it still under their control.
- [TBPN](https://boilpoints.com/u/tbpn), 2026-10-30, 10:39 to 12:26: **Reads CZ and Musk's exchange after the hack**. Reads the X exchange between CZ and Musk after the hack, including CZ's claim that Binance's SpaceX shares are worth more than a billion and a Binance staffer's reply that yearly revenue covers the losses without selling them. Also notes Chainalysis-style tracking graphics of the stolen funds. New angle: CZ says Binance's SpaceX shares are worth more than a billion dollars and need not be sold to cover the losses.